The Labour Fund (Tamkeen) announced its results for the first quarter of 2023, showcasing significant progress in the previously announced strategic priorities for the year. In alignment with its main mandates, Tamkeen unveiled earlier this year its strategic objectives which focus on four key priorities: facilitating the increased economic participation of Bahrainis, providing training that is aligned with the labor market needs in new and emerging skills, as well as supporting growth and development of enterprises and ecosystem development, all of which drive positive economic impact and sustainable growth.

Tamkeen is mandated to empower Bahrainis to become the first choice of employment for the private sector and has since inception focused its efforts to drive the fulfilment of this objective. The results of the first quarter of this year showcased great progress in strategic priorities due to the focus on quality training and the proactive approach adopted with enterprises, leading Tamkeen to support the employment of over 2,950 Bahrainis, 16% of them in quality jobs in comparison to 11% in the first quarter of last year. Furthermore, Tamkeen supported the training of over 2,480 Bahrainis to build their skills and enhance their opportunities to enter the labor market.

In alignment with the strategic focus and to foster further economic participation of Bahrainis, Tamkeen focused its efforts on empowering the participation of Bahraini women and facilitating the entry of youth into the labor market. These efforts resulted in increased support for Bahraini women, with 1,350 women supported for employment and 1,500 women supported for training. Moreover, Tamkeen’s support for youth expanded, with the number of Bahrainis aged 35 or below who benefitted from Tamkeen’s support for employment and training reaching more than 4,860.

Tamkeen’s objectives also include empowering the private sector to become the key engine of economic growth in the Kingdom. Focusing on this objective and to foster development and growth within the private sector, Tamkeen supported over 1,800 enterprises of all sizes and across various economic sectors through different types of support such as supporting their operations and their human capital development, with 87% of enterprises supported being SMEs, and 31% of enterprises supported through Tamkeen’s flagship enterprise programs being from key economic sectors.

Commenting on this, Her Excellency Maha Mofeez, Chief Executive of the Labour Fund (Tamkeen) praised the achievements realized in the first quarter of the year as she stated: “we are starting the year on a high note with great success in driving our objectives to achieve our main purpose of driving greater economic impact for the Kingdom of Bahrain. We plan to continue closely monitoring our performance to ensure we are on the right path to achieving our goals.”

She added: “We set our key performance indicators to support our organization’s strategy and to help us remain focused on our goals and streamline our efforts in fulfilling them. These KPIs help us track our progress through the year and ensure that our support is being utilized in an optimal manner”

Furthermore, Tamkeen is focused on driving continuous positive impact on the national economy by adopting transparency across all levels, and as such, relevant teams closely monitor the performance of enterprises supported to identify potential violations and take the necessary action. As a result, Tamkeen took action regarding 61 violations in Q1 of 2023 which represents less than 1% of the total applications.

Moreover, the violations committee at Tamkeen works diligently to identify any violations that could impact the effective utilization of Tamkeen’s support and to take necessary actions as appropriate in accordance with the policies and procedures in place, while also ensuring that customers are aware of these policies and the consequences of failing to adhere to program terms and conditions. Tamkeen also cooperates with the General Directorate of Anti-Corruption & Economic & Electronic Security on an ongoing basis on relevant matters and will continue to refer to the directorate when required in the future.

It is worth mentioning that Tamkeen launched multiple initiatives in the first quarter of the year to support the employment of Bahraini doctors in private-sector institutions. This includes providing training and employment support, as well as incentives for institutions with high Bahrainization rates in their medical staff.

Additionally, Tamkeen signed partnership agreements with leading local and international institutions to train and employ Bahrainis according to labor market needs such as Fives Group which will provide specialized training opportunities for Bahrainis. As well as agreements to support the growth and expansion of various local enterprises and factories.