JOBS BOOST: 158,814 nationals employed in 2nd quarter of 2018

THE number of Bahrainis employed increased in the second quarter of the year, while non-Bahraini employment dipped slightly, according to a new report.

A total of 158,814 nationals found jobs in the period, a rise of one per cent over the same period last year when 157,261 workers were employed.

Foreign workers’ employment was 600,857 by the end of the second quarter of 2018, decreasing 0.9pc compared with 606,357 workers in the same quarter of 2017, according to the latest market indicators released by the Labour and Market Regulatory Authority (LMRA).

“The decrease is a result of cleansing more than 13,000 domestic workers’ records during the second quarter of 2018,” said the report.

LMRA chief executive Ausamah Al Absi said the authority was updating its records to get rid of multiple entries.

“This is an administrative reconciliation of records,” he said.

“The cleaning of records is an ongoing process to ensure we have records of every person in the country.”

He said LMRA took over the responsibility of issuing work visas to domestic workers from the former Labour Ministry in 2014 and since then continues to update its database.

Meanwhile, the second quarter report listed 91,852 active domestic workers in Bahrain, including 22,478 males.

The figure during the same period last year was 100,058.

The top three nationalities of domestic workers were: Indians (21,567), Ethiopians (21,306) and Filipinos (20,316).

The labour watchdog also said it had issued 39,566 new work permits during the second quarter of this year, recording an annual increase of 18.1pc.

“LMRA issued 47,937 permits during the second quarter of 2018, of which 39,566 were regular work permits (including flexible employment permits), 1,061 for investors, and 7,310 for dependants,” it said.

“The total number of permits issued increased, compared to 46,524 permits issued in the same quarter of 2017.”

Data

Construction continued to be the sector with the highest number of new work permits issued, with a share of 33pc, followed by wholesale and retail trade sector (17.9pc) and accommodation and food service activities (12.6pc).

“The share of small organisations – employing less than 10 workers – of regular work permits was 50.5pc of total work permits issued during the period.”

The quarterly data also showed that 1,363 workers were registered with the Pension Fund Authority (PFA) as newly-hired Bahrainis, compared with 19,528 non-Bahrainis in the second quarter of the year.

The figures also stated that 372,208 expatriates earned less than BD200 per month, while the number of Bahrainis earning the same wage was 3,133. This included both male and female workers.

The average wage for Bahrainis during the period was BD538, compared withBD528 in the corresponding period last year – an annual increase of 1.9pc.

However, those in the public sector were better off – earning an average income of BD708 compared with BD416 in the private sector.

Source: http://www.gdnonline.com/Details/429118