A Preliminary Analysis between Available and Shared Resources for the Lebanese Job Crisis

Abstract

ABSTRACTThe Port of Beirut, Lebanon explosion on August 4, 2020, forced increased emigration of the Lebanese people, as they sought stability outside of their economically and politically volatile country (Farhat, 2021). Thus, families remaining in Lebanon are more dependent than ever on remittances. However, the ability of families to receive remittances is contingent on the success of those emigrating from Lebanon to gain employment. Job seekers often turn to the internet for career information from communication platforms like Reddit and dedicated job forums, like Jobs for Lebanon, among other institutional resources. This study focuses on these online institutional resources' hyperlink network, as hyperlink networks can represent a collective public good (Fu & Shumate, 2016). Data collection resulted in a network of 148 institutions. Yet with the plethora of resources available, the Lebanese community is still undergoing ineffective job searching. This preliminary research explores thse barrier between institutionally presented job resources and Lebanese job seekers by comparing the structure of the existing institutional resource network to resources shared in a leading online community. A network analysis of 148 institutions reveals: (1) unproductive job information exchange between major institutions, and (2) an opportunity for institutions to better support Lebanese job seekers.