Unemployment Allowance Count Tops 11,000 in October 2025

TDT | Manama

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More than 11,000 Bahraini jobseekers were on unemployment allowance in October 2025, the Labour Ministry told MP Khalid Buanaq, dismissing any suggestion that it is looking to shrink eligibility.

The ministry said 11,452 jobseekers were receiving the allowance that month, using October figures because the total shifts day by day as new names are added and others drop off after finding work or no longer meeting the legal tests set out in Decree-Law No 78 of 2006 on Unemployment Insurance.

It broke the October count into three bands. A total of 3,479 jobseekers had been on the allowance for less than a year. Another 6,258 had been receiving support for more than a year and up to five years. A further 1,715 had been on the allowance for more than five years. The reply did not split this last group into the longer ranges raised in the MP’s question, instead listing everyone beyond five years in one category.

On job opportunities offered to long-term recipients, the ministry said there is no cap on how many times a jobseeker may put himself forward for work through the National Employment Platform. It added that it does not put jobs in front of jobseekers itself. Employers enter vacancies on the platform, after which the ministry checks details such as pay, qualification and specialism before the role is published for jobseekers to see.

The ministry said it does not nominate jobseekers or contact them to steer them towards specific posts. Instead, the jobseeker chooses from roles shown on the platform, with pay, job title, required qualification, specialism, employer name, workplace location and working pattern all listed. The system does not allow a jobseeker to apply for a role that does not match the qualification or specialism sought by the employer.

If a jobseeker with no previous work experience does not apply for a sufficient number of roles, the platform provides guidance towards posts that fit his profile, the ministry said. If he still does not apply for those roles, he is invited to a guidance meeting with a ministry employment specialist, who explains how to log in using the eKey and choose suitable vacancies himself.

The reply pointed to Article 24 of the Unemployment Insurance Law, which states that entitlement to allowance or compensation falls if a jobseeker refuses two job opportunities. Since the group referred to in the question continues to receive the allowance, the ministry said this shows they have not reached the refusal threshold set out in law. It added that the platform model, in which jobseekers select roles after reviewing full details, makes it difficult to identify personal reasons linked to declining a role that has already been chosen.

The ministry said it has no scheme aimed at cutting the number of people entitled to the unemployment allowance. It stressed that it applies the law’s rules on entitlement, payment and suspension as written. The unemployment insurance system, it said, is intended to encourage jobseekers to register, look for work in earnest and enter the labour market, with legal conditions designed to ensure genuine engagement with the process.

The reply also set out steps taken after His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince and Prime Minister, directed the ministry on 28 September 2025 to ensure three job opportunities are offered to each registered jobseeker before the end of the year. The ministry said it worked with Tamkeen, the Labour Market Regulatory Authority and the Bahrain Chamber of Commerce and Industry to put an action plan in place and to increase the pace of recruitment interviews.

It said efforts were stepped up to increase the flow of private-sector vacancies on the platform, with specialist teams reaching out to firms that can offer roles attractive to Bahrainis. The ministry also said it has been working with the Chamber to encourage employers to list their available posts, while also setting out training, qualification and wage support schemes available in coordination with Tamkeen.

To cope with higher demand, working hours at the ministry were extended from 7am to 7pm. The ministry said it prepared extra rooms for interviews, added more parking for visitors and increased staffing for guidance and support. It also coordinated with the Information and eGovernment Authority to strengthen the capacity of the National Employment Platform and linked digital services, including the eKey and the Government Notifications Service.

Government-owned companies in which the state holds full or partial stakes have also been encouraged to list their vacancies on the platform, the ministry said, to support the wider drive to place Bahraini talent in private-sector roles.

On the fate of a jobseeker’s record, the ministry said there is no limit on how often a jobseeker may apply for vacancies through the platform. A jobseeker remains registered until he receives a suitable offer and is recorded as an insured employee with the General Authority for Social Insurance. Only then is he removed from the ministry’s jobseeker records.