The Banking Executive Magazine - January 2022 Issue

The Labor Market in Egypt Between 2012 and 2018, wages have not adjusted to the higher infla- tion. The high inflation that followed the floating of the Egyptian pound has led to a significant erosion in real wages. The average real monthly wage decreased by 9% during the same period. Likewise, the average hourly wages decreased by 11%. Real wage declines were even higher among women, those working in urban areas, those with medium skills, and those working in the pri- vate sector compared to the public sector. Wage inequality has also sharply increased. One should note the difference between economic sectors in favor of specific sectors, provoke the average weekly working hours between 50-55 hours. Figure 2 below reflects that major service sec- tors such as health, education, and scientific research have the lowest return in the labor market; with the lowest average weekly wages com- pared to other service sectors such as telecommunications and information whose wages rates are 1.5, 2.3 and 1.4 times higher than the wages of the mentioned sectors. ISSUE 157 JANUARY 2022 the BANKING EXECUTIVE 41 Figure 1. Unemployment rate by governorates, 2018