Still the Employer of Choice

Abstract

The public sector in Egypt provides relatively generous benefits, particularly when compared to the working conditions in the predominantly informal private sector in the country. For this reason, it has been described as the employer of choice among youth in Egypt. This chapter shows a continued preference of government hiring, using the Egypt Labor Market Panel Survey (ELMPS) 2018 data. The analysis also shows that the share of the sector in employment has been declining. Inside the government, we show that the sector is becoming more educated as it consistently hires more workers with university and post-graduate education. Focusing on those employed in the government, the analysis over time shows that the sector is becoming slightly more feminized and is aging. This reflects the evolution of hiring policies in the sector. Despite an increasing presence of women in the sector, it has not reached gender parity.