EIGHTY-ONE per cent of Bahrainis hired in the first half of this year were chosen from the Labour Ministry’s database, it has emerged.
This reveals employers’ trust in the ministry’s jobs bank, Labour Minister Jameel Humaidan said yesterday.
“A total of 14,321 Bahrainis found jobs from January until June 30 this year, representing a 19pc increase from 12,038 hired during the same period in 2021,” he said.
“Out of these, 81pc were chosen from the ministry’s vacancy bank this year, as opposed to 19pc from outside, which is an incredible improvement as the figure stood at 50pc in the past years.
“This is a testament to the trust in the ministry’s system.”
Details of the labour market’s performance were revealed yesterday by Mr Humaidan during a Press conference held at the ministry’s headquarters in Zayed Town.
“The National Employment Programme is progressing at a fast pace with 72pc of the annual jobs-target achieved until June this year,” he said.
“Of the 14,321 Bahrainis employed in the first six months, 77pc have previously worked or switched jobs, while 23pc are new to the labour market, which is a total of 3,294 individuals.”
Meanwhile, 59pc (5,891) of the targeted 10,000 annual trainees have received training in the first six months of this year – which represents a 23pc increase from last year’s figure (4,772) during the same period.
Mr Humaidan reaffirmed that the ministry was determined to exceed targets this year by encouraging more on-the-job vocational training and additional packages, which will be announced soon.
“There are comprehensive plans in the pipeline that will be announced soon in collaboration with the Education Ministry,” he added.
The GDN on Monday reported that the rate of unemployment in Bahrain had dropped from 7.7pc to 5.7pc, thanks to the financial and economic packages launched during the Covid-19 outbreak, the economic recovery plan and the launch of the National Employment Programme.
“During the pandemic, unemployment was 7.7pc – which is a number we don’t like seeing in Bahrain – and even though we ensured people weren’t sacked, the rate of hiring was slow,” added Mr Humaidan yesterday.
“This year, the unemployment rate has dropped to 5.7pc and although this isn’t the ideal situation, we are sparing no efforts to further decrease the rate and re-energise the recruiting mechanism.
“The reduction is proof of the success of the Economic Recovery Plan.
“There are currently 14,824 registered jobseekers as opposed to more than 18,700 who had registered during the 7.7pc unemployment period. Out of these, 8,718 are college graduates (more than 58pc), 5,127 have high school certificates (35pc) or less, and 978 hold diplomas (6.2pc).”
Of the 14,824 jobseekers, 76pc are female and 24pc male with efforts intensifying to ensure the employment of more Bahraini women in the private sector.
According to Mr Humaidan, employment of fresh graduates – which has increased from 2,740 in the first six months of 2021 to 4,303 during the same period this year, representing a 57pc increase – still remains a challenge.
He also added that collaborative efforts were continuous, with plans in the pipeline to bridge the gap between the educational sector outputs and labour market needs.
reem@gdnmedia.bh
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