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Employment

Employment news from the Middle East and beyond. All the important stories, exclusive interviews, plus authoritative opinion and analysis

Employment overview

Employment news

A currency exchange office in Ankara. Turkey's government is planning a second pension payment increase in June this year

Turkey faces $3bn payout for pensioners and wage support

Turkey will have to pay out an estimated TL110.8 billion ($3.12 billion) after increasing minimum pension payments and wage support to companies. Vedat Isıkhan, the labour minister, announced on January 7 that the minimum monthly state pension would be increased by 15.75 percent, taking the base rate payment to TL14,469 ($409). Nearly 3.87 million pensioners will benefit […]

Oman's latest grant to citizens includes support for those on pensions of less than OR350 a month

Oman issues $460m in grants to support citizens

Oman has provided funding of OR178 million ($460 million) to support more than 100,000 citizens in housing and businesses.  Sultan Haitham bin Tariq, in a royal decree marking the fifth anniversary of his accession to the throne, increased the allocation for this year’s housing assistance programme, which provides housing to lower income families.  The grants […]

The private sector employs 2.4m Saudis but the government would like that figure to increase

Saudi Arabia plans cash pay-offs to cut public sector jobs

Saudi Arabia is to offer cash incentives to encourage unproductive employees in the public sector to resign in a bid to tackle inefficiency. Saudi newspapers have reported that the government has earmarked nearly 12.7 billion riyals ($3.38 billion) for the three-year plan, which it dubs the ‘Golden Handshake’. While Riyadh has not clarified why it […]

saudi livestock city slaughterhouse

Middle East’s biggest ‘livestock city’ set for Saudi province

A SAR9 billion ($2.4 billion) plan to develop the largest “livestock city” in the Middle East has been announced by the Saudi Eastern Province city of Hafr Al Batin. The project, which is expected to provide 30 percent of Saudi Arabia’s demand for red meat, was announced at the Hafr Al Batin Investment Forum 2025 […]

Men sit at an open air tea house in Diyarbakir, southeastern Turkey. Almost 20% of the population of Turkey are pensioners pension pensions

Turkish pensions increase falls short of expectations

Turkey has increased payments on pensions, but observers say the latest rise does not keep up with the cost of living.  On January 7 Vedat Isıkhan, the labour minister, announced that the minimum monthly state pension would be increased by 15.75 percent, taking the base rate payment to TL14,469 ($409). A second increase, forecast to […]

Shoppers in Dubai Mall. Retail price discounting in the UAE has been described by one analyst as 'a race to the bottom'

UAE and Kuwait companies struggling to hire staff

Companies in the UAE and Kuwait are struggling to afford new staff as a result of squeezed margins, according to the latest business sentiment survey. For the third successive month, non-oil companies operating in the UAE highlighted a reduction in prices charged, with discounting used to support sales amid a highly competitive market. This was […]

Shoppers in a market in Douma. The Syrian public sector has salaries that place workers below the poverty line

Syrian public sector workers set for 400% pay rise

The Syrian caretaker government plans to hike public sector salaries by 400 percent next month after completing an administrative restructuring, the country’s finance minister said Sunday. Public sector workers currently earn around $25 per month, putting them below the poverty line. The increase, estimated to cost 1.65 trillion Syrian pounds, or about $127 million at […]

A tunnel being constructed at Iraq's Faw Port will take traffic under a river and onto the Road Of Development, which will cross Iraq up to the border with Turkey

Iraq expects road and rail project to provide 20,000 jobs

Iraq’s planned $17 billion project to build a rail line and motorway up to the border with Turkey aims to create at least 20,000 jobs for citizens, officials said. Transport minister Razzak Al-Saadawi said the Road Of Development project, which is backed by the UAE and Qatar, will include the construction of several industry cities […]

Saudi Arabia's minister of human resources and social development Ahmad Al-Rajhi. Unemployment among Saudi nationals fell to 7.8 percent in Q3 2024, from 8.8 percent

Number of unemployed Saudis down in Q3 2024

Unemployment among Saudi nationals fell to 7.8 percent in the third quarter of 2024 from 8.8 percent in the same period a year ago, according to state-run General Authority for Statistics data. But unemployment increased quarter on quarter from 7.1 percent. The overall unemployment rate, including expatriate workers, climbed to 3.7 percent from 3.3 percent […]

Global Food Week took place in Abu Dhabi in late November. At the event Adnoc signed deals worth more than AED540m with UAE-based suppliers

Adnoc aims to add $54bn and thousands of jobs to UAE economy

Abu Dhabi National Oil Company is looking to make investments worth AED200 billion ($54 billion) in the UAE economy over the next five years via what it calls its “in-country value programme”. The initiative is meant to ensure that Adnoc’s spending is kept inside the UAE, stimulating the economy and providing local suppliers and workers […]

A Syrian family crosses into Syria from Turkey at the Oncupinar border crossing near the town of Kilis in southern Turkey. Syrian refugees in Turkey started their journey back home following the collapse of the regime of Bashar al-Assad

The pros and cons for Turkey of a Syrian exodus

The end of the civil war in Syria will, at least in time, offer strong economic opportunities for neighbouring Turkey, though there could also be a few unwanted costs coming as part of any peace dividend.  On December 10 Turkish officials said they were developing plans to support up to 2 million of the 3.2 […]

The Riyadh Western Metro Station, one of four main commuter hubs on the network

Riyadh Metro aims to break Saudi capital’s car gridlock

The first phase of Saudi Arabia’s $22.5 billion Riyadh Metro is opening on December 1, marking a significant step toward transforming public transportation in a city known for its heavy car culture and gridlocked streets. The project, billed as the world’s longest driverless transit system, is a centerpiece of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 plan, which […]

Bahrain hopes its International Commercial Court will draw in new businesses and high-net-worth individuals

Bahrain arbitration court strengthens Singapore ties

Bahrain is seeking to emulate the success of a Singapore-based arbitration panel by launching its own International Commercial Court. It will target ultra-high-net-worth individuals and family offices, which are private wealth management advisory firms serving multi-generational wealthy families. The specialised arbitration centre is modelled on the Singapore International Commercial Court (SICC) and is to be […]

An employee at a textile factory in Istanbul; Turkstat figures show female unemployment levels for September at 12.3 percent

Development bank targets female employment in Turkey

Turkish women are to be one of the main beneficiaries of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development’s (EBRD) latest investment strategy, through a series of initiatives to fund training, skills growth and business development in the country.  In its 2024-29 strategy, released on November 12, the European lender identified four key areas that it […]

Workers prepare to clean the floor of the holy Kaaba at the Grand Mosque, during the Hajj pilgrimage in Mecca

Saudi Arabia promises more pilgrimage industry work visas

Saudi Arabia will issue more temporary work visas to those employed in the pilgrimage industry.  A statement by the ministry of human resources said Hajj and umrah work would now be included in its temporary visa programme. A half-year visa will cover the fasting month of Ramadan and the Hajj pilgrimage, which comes around three […]

Young women at a careers fair in Riyadh. The unemployment rate for women in Saudi Arabia was 10.8% in the second quarter

Saudi unemployment drops again in second quarter

The unemployment rate for Saudi nationals fell to 7.1 percent in the second quarter of 2024, government data shows, down from 7.6 percent in the first quarter and 8.5 percent in the same period a year ago. The overall unemployment rate, which includes expatriate workers, dropped to 3.3 percent in Q2, down from 4.1 percent […]

Men on the Muscat waterfront. Omani citizens who earn more than $1m will have to pay income tax

Oman to impose income tax on high earners post-2026

Oman is expected to implement its proposed personal income tax on high earners after 2026, according to a new report. In July, the Majlis al-Shura, the lower house of the Omani parliament, approved a draft law on income tax – the first of its kind in the GCC region – forwarding it to the State […]

As of January 2024, women held less than 11 percent of board seats in the UAE

UAE company boards must appoint at least one woman

Private joint-stock companies in the UAE will have to appoint at least one woman to their board of directors starting from January next year, the Ministry of Economy has announced. The decision is part of the UAE’s efforts to enhance diversity in the corporate sector and increase women’s representation in leadership and decision-making roles. Abdulla […]

Visitors outside Sultan Qaboos Mosque in Muscat; the labour law revision will affect expatriate employment in sectors including oil and gas, real estate and tourism

Oman’s fine line between labour localisation and growth

Oman this week tightened restrictions on foreign workers’ ability to take on certain jobs in industries including real estate, construction and hospitality. In another labour law revision of this kind in the past two years authorities banned expatriates from serving in some oil and gas engineering roles, the real estate maintenance space, and as travel […]