VZCZCXRO2584
OO RUEHDE
DE RUEHMK #0704/01 1141347
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 241347Z APR 06
FM AMEMBASSY MANAMA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 4554
INFO RUEHZM/GULF COOPERATION COUNCIL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHDC PRIORITY

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 MANAMA 000704 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR DRL: JOSEPH DEMARIA 
LABOR FOR ILAB: JAMES RUDE 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/19/2016 
TAGS: ELAB PGOV PREL BA REGION HUMRIT REFORM
SUBJECT: FUTURE UNCERTAIN FOR NATIONAL EMPLOYMENT PROJECT 
 
REF: A. MANAMA 20 
     ¶B. MANAMA 404 
 
Classified By: Ambassador William T. Monroe for reasons 1.4(b) and (d). 
 
------- 
Summary 
------- 
 
¶1.  (C) Bahrain's much-anticipated 80 million dollar National 
Employment Project (NEP) completed its formal registration 
phase at the end of February and has moved into its worker 
orientation and assessment phases.  NEP Head of Marketing 
Nizar Al Qari told PolOff April 18 that optimism and morale 
among NEP implementers have slipped due to management 
decisions.  The shuffling of leadership responsibilities has 
led to a complicated chain of command and decreased 
organizational effectiveness.  Minister of Labor Dr. Majeed 
Al Alawi's strained relationship with Australian consultant 
EFI over proper use of a worker aptitude assessment exam 
could result in the consultant being pulled from the project. 
 Misuse of assessment results by job placement counselors has 
led to increased numbers of registrants refusing job offers 
and press coverage of NEP's shortcomings.  End Summary. 
 
¶2.  (C) Fall 2005 saw hope and anticipation build through an 
NEP public marketing campaign under the leadership of the 
Minister of Labor.  The NEP proposed to register all of the 
estimated 20,000 unemployed Bahrainis beginning in January 
and provide support to place them into jobs (ref A).  The 
program was to assess the skills and aptitudes of individual 
unemployed workers, to match each with a job available in the 
private or public sector, and to provide necessary training 
based on the requirements of the position.  The formal 
registration phase was conducted in January and February. 
The following progress report presents a differing 
perspective from inside the program to that presented by 
Minister Al Alawi one month earlier in ref B. 
 
----------------------- 
NEP Management Problems 
----------------------- 
 
¶3.  (C) NEP Head of Marketing Nizar Al Qari told PolOff that 
early optimism in the project and high morale have waned in 
the wake of management decisions and questionable project 
leadership.  Publicly officials are maintaining a positive 
outlook, but internally there are doubts about management 
shuffling that has undercut the effectiveness of the program. 
 According to Al Qari, Minister of Labor Majeed Al Alawi has 
assumed direct oversight of parts of the project that were 
previously managed by Ministry of Labor Assistant 
Undersecretary for Training and NEP Director Ahmed Al Banna. 
This change has complicated the chain of command and created 
a disorganized management structure leading to confusion in 
the project. 
 
¶4.  (C) Al Qari reported difficulties in the relationship 
between Minister Al Alawi and Australian consultant EFI 
International.  EFI has counseled against some of the 
decisions of the Minister, and the Minister has not been 
satisfied with EFI's support and reportedly is considering 
releasing them from the project.  Al Qari feels this would be 
a grave mistake.  The cornerstone of the NEP has been the 
worker skill and aptitude assessment phase for which EFI is 
responsible and which was lacking in previous employment 
projects.  This missing piece in previous years' programs 
resulted in many newly-placed workers leaving their jobs 
after a short time due to low interest and motivation.  In 
the NEP, worker assessment has proceeded at a rate of 
approximately 240 workers per day, but per a directive from 
the Minister, according to Al Qari, assessment results are 
not being used by the team of 40 job counselors placing 
workers.  Also per Ministerial directive, training of these 
counselors was accelerated and abbreviated with the intent of 
increasing early job placements.  The results have been 
under-trained counselors not taking advantage of aptitude 
assessments and press reports of job refusals by workers in 
the program. 
 
------------------------------------- 
Placements Not On Track to Reach Goal 
------------------------------------- 
 
¶5.  (C) Al Qari expressed concern that so far there have been 
fewer than 400 workers placed in jobs while publicly the 
Minister has promised that by year's end 10,000 workers will 
be in jobs.  Although Al Qari recognized that the Minister 
was a very effective advocate for the program in the lead-up 
 
MANAMA 00000704  002 OF 003 
 
 
to the registration campaign, he thought the program's 
promises of 10,000 new jobs and the availability of public 
sector jobs were mistakes.  In reality, the public sector 
jobs have been limited to government school teaching 
positions, which require high levels of education and for 
which most of the registrants are not qualified.  Another 
concern is that employers are becoming increasingly upset at 
work permit processing delays.  The NEP recruitment unit 
promised employers expedited approval for their expatriate 
workers if they agreed to reserve jobs for Bahrainis in the 
NEP.  If discontent continues to rise, employers may 
reconsider their participation in the program. 
 
¶6.  (C) Al Qari maintained that regardless of the 
unemployment numbers talked about in the press, there are no 
more than 5,000 truly unemployed Bahrainis in the country. 
He said that a large number of women registered under the NEP 
had not worked previously and were stay-at-home mothers and 
wives.  Many of them registered thinking they would be 
eligible for a financial grant from the King.  When told that 
there was no grant but that they would receive a stipend 
through the training period leading to a job, a common 
response was, "I don't really want a job, I just want 
training."  Al Qari said that the NEP is exploring the idea 
of a job share system in retail businesses for middle-aged 
women with low skills.  The women are more comfortable with 
an abbreviated schedule and are happy to be able to 
supplement their families' incomes. 
 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
On the Other Hand, Still Some Cause for Optimism 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
¶7.  (U) Ministry of Labor Assistant Undersecretary for 
Training Ahmed Al Banna revised NEP registered unemployment 
figures April 24 from those announced four weeks earlier.  He 
said that the number of registrants had dropped to 10,916 
from nearly 13,000, meaning that over 2,000 registered under 
the NEP had found jobs.  He admitted that "a large number had 
found jobs through their own efforts," but said that many 
others had been helped through the NEP, and others had 
received "Commercial Registrations" enabling them to open 
their own business.  (Note:  Al Banna did not mention how 
many may have been NEP registrants who decided not to 
continue in the program, such as housewives who were not 
committed to working.  End note.)  Al Banna said that nearly 
500 others had begun Bahrain Training Institute courses and 
will begin their jobs after completing their respective 
courses. 
 
------------------------------------------- 
Applicants' Willingness to Work in Question 
------------------------------------------- 
 
¶8.  (U) Al Banna had told the press March 28 that the 12,949 
people accepted for the NEP reflected the accurate number of 
unemployed Bahrainis in the country.  However, Al Banna 
warned that the NEP would not be successful if those seeking 
jobs were too choosy.  The story reported that of 1813 
registrants interviewed at that point, only 977 (54%) had 
accepted positions offered to them.  Of the total number of 
registrants Al Banna said that 16% of this total had 
university degrees and another 15% had some post-secondary 
schooling.  The remaining had a high school education or 
less.  Seventy-five percent of those accepted to the program 
were women. 
 
¶9.  (U) Bahrain Petroleum Company President Dr. Mustafa Al 
Sayed referred to the NEP April 10 on the sidelines of the 
Asian Regional Training Development Organization's Human 
Resources Conference, saying that those seeking jobs need to 
realize that they will start at the bottom and work their way 
up.  "Every job is good if one does it very well.  That is 
the attitude that companies look for."  Al Sayed said that 
competition is tight in the labor market, and the unemployed 
are missing out on a good opportunity if they refuse offers 
of work provided by the NEP. 
 
------- 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶10.  (C) The NEP is an important piece in the Crown Prince's 
economic reform movement.  Even limited success would be a 
great disappointment to the palace, the government, and to 
the people.  The project has high visibility as one which can 
provide for the needs of the disadvantaged as they compete in 
the labor market against better-trained expatriate workers. 
If it does not reach up to its billing, deep-seated mistrust 
 
MANAMA 00000704  003 OF 003 
 
 
between the government and the public, in particular the Shia 
population, which is disproportionately impacted by 
unemployment, will only grow.  Pessimists who disparaged the 
project before it started will be proved to have been right 
all along.  However, the project is still in its early 
stages.  The formal registration period closed at the end of 
February, so phase two introductory sessions, phase three 
assessment and counseling sessions, and phase four training 
sessions are still accommodating the bulk of registrants. 
There will be more clarity as larger numbers of workers 
complete training and decide whether to accept their assigned 
jobs. 
 
MONROE