The Iraqi Ministry of Education said that one of its universities has surrendered to overwhelming pressure and agreed to sign contracts with several employees based on a daily wage system. They have settled on a salary of $8 per month. The employees hope to obtain permanent positions as they become available. Some of them have leaked information to the media to increase the pressure on their employers.

A job in the government has become the dream for millions of Iraqi university graduates, as the private sector plays a declining role in the job market.

Qassem Muhammad, media manager in the Iraqi Ministry of Higher Education, stated that “the Iraqi media has published reports about the contract between the University of Technology and daily wage workers. As long as they settle for around $8 per month, they get a promise of permanent employment. This was seen as an act of exploitation or mismanagement by some. Moreover, the truth is that these contract workers have put a lot of pressure on the university to push it to sign contracts with them. They were even willing to give up their wages for the contract, since it would give them priority to become permanent employees, in case of job availability.”

Muhammad believes that several contract workers leaked the contract to local media in order to amp up pressure on the university to give them permanent employment.