The key to making Bahrainis competitive is to enable them to advance their skills, knowledge, and capabilities through proper training and development. 

Recent efforts in Tamkeen’s intensification of its mission to invest in national human capital and the strengthening of its labor market strategies are well on the road to make Bahrainis the preferred employees by companies. Tamkeen recently announced the reopening of its programs designed to extend further support in qualifying Bahrainis for long-term employment and generating more job opportunities for them.

As the sole government agency tasked to provide assistance and training to private-sector businesses and individuals and promote the development of the sector; Tamkeen is sharpening its focus on the further development of the national human resources in response to emerging market needs.

The reopening was spearheaded by HRH Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince and Prime Minister; HE the Minister of Labour and Social Development, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Labour Market Regulatory Authority, Mr. Jameel bin Muhammed Ali Humaidan; and HE Shaikh Mohammed bin Essa Al Khalifa, the Chairman of the Labour Fund “Tamkeen”.

The program is geared towards reducing structural unemployment with the end-objective of encouraging the employment of Bahrainis including fresh graduates and strengthening their competencies which accelerates their integration into enterprises.

It entails intensive efforts in the training and development of Bahraini manpower, specific skills training programs designed with professional certifications to enhance competitiveness and strengthen jobseekers’ knowledge and skills proficiency in key areas such as English and computer skills.

Tamkeen has allocated a budget of BHD 120 million for the next three years (2021-2023) to support the employment of Bahrainis. The amount has been doubled in comparison to the budget allocated in the past five years. In addition, the budget and duration of support provided for those registered in the Ministry of Labour and Social Development and fresh graduates were also increased.  Efforts were also intensified towards the development of current and new programs, including supporting remote and part-time work in compliance with precautionary measures and addressing the economic repercussions caused by the pandemic on the global market.

The program stressed the role that the Ministry and the Authority play in cooperation with Tamkeen and the other relevant parties in executing the three initiatives of the second version of the National Employment program.

The launch of this program aims to encourage employers to hire citizens during the Corona pandemic, which witnessed new trends as well as a “new normal” in job application procedures. During the pandemic, the volume of job applications greatly increased in proportion, and interviews were mostly conducted online. The increase extended support to employers which in turn generated job opportunities.

The program aims to employ 25,000 citizens in the year 2021 and provide 10,000 training opportunities, which will be implemented through three initiatives.

The first initiative is the reopening of all of Tamkeen’s programs which enable Bahrainis to be the employee of choice within the private sector. It aims to support employers to create new job opportunities for citizens and improve their wages from the average wage of BHD 763 of workers in the private sector.

The second initiative extends the period for announcing the vacancies in Bahrain, from two weeks to three weeks, before opening the application for recruitment to expatriate workers. This is done to encourage employers to benefit from this program, increase the period of advertising jobs, and give employers better opportunities to select candidates based on their needs.

In the third initiative, the Labour Market Regulatory Authority will coordinate with the Ministry of Interior to tighten security measures to monitor and deport any illegal workers, to allow Bahraini citizens to be the employee of choice when employers are hiring. It seeks to address any issues within the labor market caused by this type of employment, wherein inspectors will work to execute the seven rules recently issued by the cabinet to regulate Flexi and non-Flexi employment.

The registration for Tamkeen’s program, as part of the National Employment Program, began on January 2021. Tamkeen’s aid was provided through training and wage support, in addition to offering a special program catered towards recent graduates which aim to boost their employment opportunities, whether it’s full-time, part-time, or an internship, preparing them to work within private sector enterprises.

A comprehensive evaluation of Tamkeen’s program regarding the employment of fresh graduates will be conducted in the near future to measure the effectiveness of the program and its procedures.

Priorities will be evaluated to ensure increased support towards the professional development of Bahrainis, empower them to undertake leadership positions, prepare them for the new requirements of the market, and open more pathways to create more job opportunities. In alignment with Tamkeen’s strategy, the program is definitely headed towards the realization of the vision to make Bahrainis the first choice for employment in the labor market.