How Bahrain has become a hub of global talent

The Kingdoms is stacked with talent for businesses

Human resource is the most important resource for a business. 

That was a highly generalised and somewhat superficial statement. In reality, some businesses will find other resources, physical or otherwise to be their most important assets. But the fact remains, that without the strong talent to form the human resource part of a business, it will struggle. 

Having a highly skilled and experienced workforce may be the difference between a floundering business and a successful one. And as such, it is key for most businesses to have access to strong talent that will help drive them forward.

Any business that wishes to set up in a country that is not where they are from, or any entrepreneur who wishes to set up a company must look at the talent that is available to them before making the key decisions. One key decision being, the location where you set up your business. 

In the Middle East, there are several countries, each offering unique benefits to investors and professionals. Countries like Saudi Arabia, for example, entice investors with their large population, natural resources and vast oil wealth. Cities like Dubai in the UAE try to attract individuals of high net worth with a globalised city with more potential for luxury than most others.

Bahrain offers a location that provides access to many of these same benefits, without unreasonable costs. And of course, it is a hub for talent as well.

Talent from several different nations from across the world, that make up the country’s population and the workforces of businesses that operate in the country. 

The diverse workforce for companies in Bahrain

The country is populated primarily by expatriates, with the expatriates from several different nations making up a larger percentage of the population than local citizens. This is not far from the case of neighbouring countries like the UAE and Qatar, where expatriates form significant portions of the population as well. 

And this high number of expatriates means they are also the ones making up a significant percentage of the workforce as well. 

The country currently has a workforce of over 1 million individuals, a large number for a small island nation such as itself. And this is expected to grow as well, with the number expected to reach 2 million before the year 2030, which is also the year by which the country aims to attain several lofty goals for its economy.

And the workforce is young in many sectors as well, with as much as 60% of the workforce in Information Technology functions and industries being in the 18-24 age bracket. There is also the added benefit of 90% of the workforce from the country being fluent in both Arabic and English, the two most widely spoken languages in the country and in the middle east in general.

And there is strong and growing gender diversity in the workforce as well, with 28% of the workforce being made up of women. 

How will your Bahrain business benefit from having a diverse workforce?

There are several benefits that are associated with having a diverse workforce. Diversify in the origins of the individuals that make up the workforce as well as their specific characteristics.

The diverse workforce in Bahrain will enrich your business with diverse perspectives, a significant source of strength when it comes to solving organisational challenges. This was proven by a study conducted by Harvard Business Review, which found that a diverse workforce solved problems faster. 

There also seems to be a correlation between financial performance and diversity in the workforce, as found by a study conducted by McKinsey and Company. Having some amount of expatriate workforce may also drive up your employee satisfaction levels, as found by this study. 

There are many benefits to having a diverse workforce made up of people from around the world. The several different perspectives that having a diverse workforce brings will be a source of organisational strength for your business. 

And this is exactly what you stand to gain from setting up and operating in a diverse country like Bahrain.

How has Bahrain managed to become a hub of talent?

The country has been placing an increasing amount of emphasis on programmes to educate and train its young populace. The country’s Labour Fund or Tamkeen has empowered over 38000 individuals over the past few years, with specific support provided to the workforce with the objective of enhancing their productivity and skills. 

Tamkeen has invested more than $440 Million in supporting training and business development in the country. This investment and the number of different efforts undertaken by Tamkeen has seen it serve over 170,000 Bahraini individuals and businesses so far. 

All of this has resulted in the most equipped local workforce out of all countries in the middle east region. Even among the more wealthy countries like the UAE and Qatar, Bahrain is undoubtedly the best performer when it comes to having a strong local workforce.

But of course, given the country’s significant expatriate population, having strong talent that comes from beyond its borders will be key as well. Thankfully, the country excels at attracting talent from outside of its borders as well. 

It has become a favourite of expatriates from around the world, with consistently high rankings in expatriate satisfaction studies. It was ranked as the best country in the world for expatriates for two consecutive years in recent times, by the Expat Insider surveys of 2017 and 2018.

There are plenty of other attractive benefits it offers to expatriates living in the country, such as the absence of an income tax and the ease of travel to several neighbouring countries. The country also offers a lower cost of living than many of the alternatives in the region such as Dubai and Abu Dhabi, two expensive cities to live in.

But all these benefits would not be particularly relevant if there weren’t opportunities for employment in the country. The good news is that the country and its economy continues to grow, with MNCs and new businesses being set up in the country, like Amazon Web Services for example, which entered the region by setting up in Bahrain in 2019. 

There are plans in place to induce growth in the economy, with several different industries like tourism and technology being targeted for high growth. The strong plans to diversify the economic strength of the country beyond oil means the number of opportunities for the country’s workforce is expected to grow as well.

How can you enter Bahrain for business?

There are many ways of setting up a business in Bahrain. In some industries, you even have the option of setting up without a local sponsor.

But having strong local support can be a difference-maker for your business. And having this local sponsor be a company that excels at providing you with a wide range of services will be even better.

That is exactly what we can offer at Al Wasel, with our services in HR Placement and recruitment helping you build a diverse workforce that will drive business success. Contact us now, and learn more about how we can help your business or project in Bahrain.