• Social Issues
    Jan 06, 2021

    Wasted Potential: Mismatching Syrian Refugee Skills in the Lebanese Labor Market

    • Daniel Garrote Sánchez
    Wasted Potential: Mismatching Syrian Refugee Skills in the Lebanese Labor Market
    Adult Syrian refugees in Lebanon are often portrayed as a homogeneous group of low-skilled workers. However, the reality is that Syrian refugees are much more varied in their educational levels and professional backgrounds and skills. LCPS conducted a survey in three mid-sized cities in Lebanon (Saida, Zahle, and Halba) in order to better understand the socio-economic situation of Syrian refugees and host communities in the country. We found that Syrian refugees have a wide range of skills and experiences that could benefit the Lebanese economy. Despite this, the only work available to Syrian refugees is predominantly in low-skilled, insecure, and precarious occupations such as day laborers in construction or agriculture. There are several political and legal barriers in place that prevent them from accessing the labor market in Lebanon. The underutilization of refugees’ skills not only reduces their capacity to sustain their livelihoods but also results in a loss of productivity and economic growth for the Lebanese economy as a whole. In a context of under-utilization of refugees’ skills, vocational and skill-formation programs commonly implemented tend to have little positive impacts. This brief ends with some policy recommendations on how to utilize Syrian refugee labor for their benefit and for the Lebanese economy as a whole.
    Daniel Garrote Sánchez contributed to this project while being a senior researcher at the Lebanese Center for Policy Studies. He currently works as a labor market consultant at the World Bank. His areas of work include economic migration, labor markets and the task content of jobs, conflict and forced displacement, and development of lagging regions. Prior to joining LCPS, he served as a labor migration consultant for the World Bank and the Ministry of Labor of Saudi Arabia. He also worked for six years as an economic researcher at the Central Bank of Spain covering a range of macroeconomic topics such as fiscal policy, labor markets, and deleveraging. Garrote Sánchez holds a master’s degree in Public Administration and International Development from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.
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