Employment and Retirement

In the Kingdom of Bahrain, human capital is a cornerstone of economic development, with the government heavily investing in the labour market. These investments focus on equipping Bahrain's workforce with essential skills, knowledge, and training to meet employer and market demands. This approach is aligned with Bahrain's broader economic strategies, including the National Labour Market Plan 2023-2026, which emphasizes on job creation, especially in the private sector, and the reduction of cost disparities between local and foreign workers​​​​.

Bahrain's workforce is characterized by its youth, technological proficiency, and bilingual capabilities, making it an attractive destination for businesses seeking skilled labour. The government's ongoing commitment to human capital development, through continuous education and training supports Bahrain's Economic Vision 2030. This vision aims to foster a skilled workforce capable of adapting to global economic changes, thereby reinforcing Bahrain's position as a leader in human capital development in the region​​.

The Kingdom launched its unemployment insurance Law and adopted its first unemployment insurance scheme in 2006, which provides unemployment protection for national and foreign workers in the public and private sectors and for unemployed youth who are first-time job seekers. The program has been hailed for reducing inequality of access to unemployment protection between nationals and migrant workers. The program provides two types of reimbursements: a “compensation benefit” to nationals and foreign workers who lose their jobs and an “unemployment aid benefit” to Bahraini first-time job seekers.

The Kingdom has launched several initiatives to promote national skills employment. Talent Portal is a communication channel between jobseekers from citizens and expatriate employees with institutions and companies in the private sector.

Bahrain also launched the National Employment Program ePortal to encourage private sector enterprises to employ nationals through wage support for up to three years. This helps Bahraini graduates and jobseekers nominated by the Ministry of Labour enter the labour market while supporting enterprises in employing the talent they need to drive their productivity and success.

The National Platform for Bahraini Experts ePortal is an official national initiative under the supervision of the Ministry of Labour. It is a long-term sustainable program that includes a database of Bahraini experts and specialists in various scientific and technical fields inside and outside Bahrain to elevate the people of the country and highlight the outstanding human competencies in them to benefit from their experiences and enrich them by effective means of knowledge transfer.

Bahrain is a preferred destination for expatriate employees, as they are attracted by the Kingdom’s openness to the cultures of the world, in addition to the legislation that provides them with legal guarantees and promotes means of justice and fairness in case of disagreement regarding the working relationship, noting the expatriates' employee Rights and Obligations under labour market legislation and regulations.

Social insurance is mandatory in Bahrain for all Bahraini nationals. Thus, all Bahrainis are entitled to social security benefits. Expatriates are also covered by the Social Insurance Organization (SIO) for work injury benefits and unemployment cover. Instead of a retirement pension, the Bahraini labour law makes it compulsory for expatriates to be paid a statutory end-of-service indemnity. Social Security pension amounts will be calculated based on the average monthly earnings from the last five years of contributions before retirement. In addition, in order to collect a full pension at normal retirement age (NRA), the minimum period of insured employment is 20 years.

Related Laws and Regulations