As a continuation of the World of Opinions Center’s project to monitor Jordanians’ attitudes toward the COVID-19 pandemic, the center conducted a survey to understand the reality of Jordanian expatriates and measure the various impacts of the coronavirus pandemic on them. Through a questionnaire consisting of 12 questions, the study sample reached 1,794 responses from Jordanian men and women. Data was collected between July 19–25, 2020, by sending an electronic link to a purposive sample of Jordanian expatriates as a first stage, who then forwarded it to their peers following the snowball sampling methodology. The responses were concentrated in the six Arab Gulf states, reaching 94.9% of the total respondents due to the high number of Jordanian laborers there. The opposite table illustrates the baseline data of the respondents.

Key Findings:

  • One-third of Jordanian expatriates lost their jobs due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Within the Gulf region, about a quarter of the Jordanian expatriates who lost their jobs were working in the education sector, and another quarter were working in the technical/industrial sector.
  • Eight out of ten Jordanian expatriates had their business or monthly income negatively affected as a result of the pandemic. Meanwhile, about two out of ten—specifically among those who retained their jobs—were not affected either negatively or positively.
  • 62% of Jordanian expatriates want to return to their homeland, and 36% of them are urgently forced to do so.
  • The high cost of living and the expatriates’ desire to be close to their families were the most important reasons for returning home.
  • Only 14% of Jordanian expatriates can afford the costs of returning to their homeland.
  • More than half of the Jordanian expatriates interacted with the Jordanian embassies in their host countries, but only 12.4% of them were satisfied with how the embassies handled expatriate affairs during the pandemic.
  • Six out of ten Jordanian expatriates are satisfied with the performance of the Jordanian government in handling the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • Eight out of ten expatriates are dissatisfied with the government’s handling of the expatriates’ file.
  • Dissatisfaction regarding the Jordanian embassy’s interaction with expatriates, as well as the Jordanian government’s performance with both the COVID-19 pandemic and the expatriates’ file, was significantly higher among those who lost their jobs compared to those who retained them.
  • Approximately three-quarters of Jordanian expatriates expressed satisfaction with how their host countries handled the COVID-19 pandemic. At the level of the Gulf countries, which host the largest percentage of Jordanian expatriates, the mean score of satisfaction with the host state’s handling of the pandemic reached 70.2%.
  • More than three-quarters of Jordanian expatriates rejected being placed in institutional quarantine (hotels) immediately upon arrival in Jordan, while less than a quarter agreed to it.
  • Nine out of ten Jordanian expatriates agree to be placed in home quarantine after arriving in Jordan.

 

Survey report can be downloaded from “Publications” section.