In search of decent work

ENAR

Major challenges in the Lebanese labor market not only include high unemployment rates, but poor working conditions as well. Regulation of, and investment in, the Lebanese labor market are seriously lacking. The outcome is an increasingly low skilled labor force with minimal social protection stuck in a ‘downward spiral’ towards increasingly dire working conditions. While the absence of decent work is not new to Lebanon, the addition of hundreds of thousands of largely low skilled Syrian workers is exacerbating an already fragile situation. [pullquote]While the absence of decent work is not new to Lebanon, the addition of hundreds of thousands of largely low skilled Syrian workers is exacerbating an already fragile situation[/pullquote] Over the past decade, there have been shifts in the distribution of employment and productivity. A decrease in the share of employment in agriculture has been matched by an increase of employment in services, transport and trade, along