Égypte 1998-2012 : de l’emploi public protégé à l’emploi informel précaire, un marché du travail en déshérence

Over the last two decades the Egyptian labor market has undergone major changes that the social claims of the January 2011 revolution brought to light. Among them, lack of job security and associated weak social protection have been particularly criticized. Therefore the aim of this article is to present an overview of employment in Egypt, with a specific focus on the evolution of informal employment. To this end we use individual data from nationally representative household surveys carried out in 1998, 2006 and 2012. The descriptive and econometric analysis illustrates that over the period studied the withdrawal of the state as a provider of employment was very marked. Simultaneously, the state’s lack of commitment to enforce labor laws in the private sector has led to a significant increase in informal employment. Informal jobs concern specifically men, young people and the less qualified workers. Though, over time, age and education provide less effective protection against informal employment. The majority of private sector jobs not only lack social protection but are also becoming more and more insecure.