LABOUR officials are working to introduce advanced training programmes this year to ensure Bahrainis are the first choice of employment.
The Labour and Social Development Ministry aims to empower and equip Bahrainis with the necessary skills and “attitudes” to take up any job.
Labour Affairs assistant under-secretary Ahmed Al Haiki told the GDN that promoting a culture of employing Bahrainis without forcing firms to do so under certain quotas is one of the ministry’s key projects.
“We will help to train Bahrainis, who are willing to work in any condition, and those who put forward their conditions will be left behind,” he said.
Competency
“There is competency in the job market which asks for not only skills but also the right attitude.
“We aim for a situation when employers are free to choose a Bahraini not by force, but because they feel Bahrainis are competent enough.
“We will be co-ordinating with Tamkeen, the Economic Development Board and training segments towards achieving this goal.”
He explained that the other targets for this year include digitalising the ministry’s public services to create new jobs and conduct smart inspections along with hosting more job fairs and enabling Bahraini startups.
Digitalising services will help the system work faster, create more jobs and reduce unemployment rate, pointed out Mr Al Haiki, who assumed his role in September, prior to which he was the ministry’s inspection and labour unions director.
“We need to adapt to the investments that are coming to the country, which depends on the efficiency of the services in the country and we are in an era of electronic services,” he said.
“We cannot bring in investments without speeding all processes that are involved, we must link ourselves to the e-government portals.
“We are planning to introduce mobile applications through which people can be more interactive and can help us to serve them faster and better.
“Digitalising services will also help job seekers and employers, by way of monitoring the ministry’s job bank online.
“This will help us tackle unemployment and also reduce the waiting time for job seekers by speeding up the process.”
The ministry also aims to conduct at least nine job fairs this year, including two that will feature all job segments and another in co-ordination with universities.
This follows on the footsteps of previous job fairs, which Mr Al Haiki said have contributed to lowering unemployment rates in the country.
“This year we will have two large fairs showcasing jobs of all kinds at the Bahrain International Exhibitions and Convention Centre and other, almost seven, smaller fairs to be held at the ministry complex,” he added.
“We will also conduct fairs in co-ordination with the universities in Bahrain, as well as reach out to private and public schools to share the guidelines as to how to prepare themselves to suit the labour market.
“Moreover, we will encourage people to start businesses – in 2020 we want to see more Bahrainis capable to work on their own projects, from their homes and also students to work alongside their studies, so that there will be no waiting for jobs after graduation.”
In November last year the GDN reported on latest statistics that showed a total of 17,747 Bahrainis were hired in the private sector in the first nine months of 2019.
It coincided with a national recruitment drive that encourages nationals to seek private sector positions, as opposed to the traditionally more popular public sector.
The figures also showed the job turnover rate in the private sector was reduced from 11 per cent to 9pc, while the dismissal rate for Bahrainis was less than 1pc.
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