ABSTRACT
Jordan is a small country which occupies a strategic and important location in the Middle East. It shares borders with Syria to the north, Saudi Arabia and the Gulf of Aqaba to the south, Iraq to the east and the occupied West Bank by Israel from the West. Jordan has a combined area of 92,300 square kilometres and a short coastline on the Red Sea of 26 kilometres. The population of Jordan is about 5,611,202, and 35.2 per cent of them are under the age of fifteen years (World Bank 2004). In this chapter, we attempt to present, as far as possible because of the limited literature available on the subject, a review of the main aspects of the country’s socio-economic and political background, a description of the role and importance of human resource management (HRM) in the current economic reforms, a discussion of the key factors that determine HRM policies and practices and, finally, an analysis of the key challenges and future development in HRM in the light of the recent reforms. Therefore, it is concluded that the practice of HRM in Jordan depends on providing the right environment for the successful implementation of credible socio-economic reforms that will be able to attract knowledge-based investments, make use of the highly educated Jordanian workforce and reduce unemployment. The information used in this chapter has been gathered through personal contacts and the use of secondary sources.
