The number of unemployed graduates is expected to reach a record this summer in Bahrain with the graduation of 3,000 students from the University of Bahrain and other private universities at a time the government fails to find solutions for the issue of unemployment.

The Minister of Labor and Social Development Jameel Humaidan said that the number of unemployed registered to date in the National Program for Employment reached 2,200 applicants, pointing out that the increase in the number of enrollments in the program does not exceed 30% of the total applicants so far.

The Bahraini House of Representatives approved on March 19, 2019, a bill referred by the government as a matter of urgency. It includes amendments to the law on unemployment insurance. Among the amendments are the transfer of funds from the Unemployment Fund to finance the voluntary retirement program, and the sum amounts to 230 million dinars.

The first investigative committee formed by the House of Representatives, which was elected in November 2018, was disbanded on Monday (March 11, 2019), causing one of the first disappointments regarding such a committee, which was made up of 12 MPs to investigate the Bahrainization of jobs as well as the issue of marginalization of Bahrainis to which they are subjected in both the public and private sectors.

So, this is what resulted from the meetings of the heads of government Khalifa bin Salman and his brother’s grandson Salman bin Hamad. After weeks of announced public discontent due to government and private sector policies marginalizing Bahrainis and favoring foreigners in employment, the government announced cold and redundant steps to confront this discontent

The General Federation of Workers Trade Unions in Bahrain (GFWTUB) hoped that the national employment project will not be like the many previous programs that lacked seriousness and transparency.

Bahraini Government not taking decision to abolish the parallel Bahrainization system, and the absence of the head of the Civil Service Bureau from the press conference are enough to know that the project launched by the PM is nothing but circumvention by the government.

Labor Minister Jameel Humaidan said that job seekers who are already registered in the ministry's lists will be enrolled in the government's new employment program automatically, stressing that they should review the ministry according to the deadlines set for the review.

Parliament Affairs Minister Ghanim Al-Buainain said that the government cannot force the private sector to employ Bahrainis, adding that the Ministry of Labour nominates the unemployed for the companies and concerned parties that, in their part, choose among the unemployed.