3 ways Bahrain is building a future-ready workforce

As economies worldwide navigate technological change, shifting geopolitics and the green transition, Bahrain is charting a distinctive path – one that places skills and economic inclusion at the centre of its transformation.

Bahrain has long invested in building a future-ready workforce by boosting skills, embracing technology adoption and promoting workplace gender equality. This long-standing commitment is rooted in a history of regional firsts – including being the first GCC country to introduce formal girls’ education in 1928. Today, women make up 50% of higher education STEM enrolments according to the Higher Education Council.

The Kingdom’s leadership in digital adoption, from pioneering the region’s first nationwide Cloud-First Policy and launching its first onshore regulatory sandbox, continues to create strong opportunities for talent to excel in high-growth, tech-enabled sectors. Through the Bahrain Skills and Gender Parity Accelerator, the country is taking a forward-looking approach to equip its people for the jobs of tomorrow, while expanding opportunities for women.

Bahrain’s roadmap for growth will shape a future-ready workforce through three strategic priorities: future-proofing skills; enhancing collaboration between the public and private sectors; and advancing women’s leadership in high-growth industries. This model offers lessons for countries seeking to balance technology, skills and inclusion in a rapidly evolving global economy.

Bahrain’s labour market, like those of many economies, is being reshaped by three intersecting forces:

Since its announcement at the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting in 2025, the Bahrain Skills and Gender Parity Accelerator – led by the Labour Fund (Tamkeen) in collaboration with the Bahrain Economic Development Board and private sector stakeholders – has conducted a comprehensive analysis of the Kingdom’s labour market, identifying the forces driving skills and gender gaps across key economic sectors, and informing three strategic priorities designed to equip Bahrain’s workforce for the future.

To remain competitive in a fast-changing global economy, Bahrain is prioritizing adaptable, future-oriented skills – particularly in AI, data and digital capabilities.

Tamkeen’s Priority Market Skills Programme is a demand-led initiative that aligns skills development with labour-market needs across priority sectors. Informed by robust supply-and-demand analysis and reinforced through private-sector employment commitments, the programme expands career pathways through funded upskilling and reskilling aligned to high-growth occupations.

By directly linking skills investment to market demand, the programme enables businesses to build sustainable talent pipelines, ensuring access to future-ready, high-value jobs.

Key actions include:

Reliable, integrated data systems are essential to anticipate workforce needs, track progress and guide policy choices. Bahrain is strengthening its capacity to understand labour-market dynamics and respond proactively to change.

Key actions include:

Empowering more women to participate and lead in the workforce is a powerful catalyst for inclusive growth. Bahrain has made notable progress, rising from 116 to 104 in the Global Gender Gap Report between 2024 and 2025, driven by increased economic participation. Women make up 55% of the public sector’s workforce, and hold 22% of ministerial roles, a figure that has nearly quadrupled over the past two decades. In the private sector, women make up 43% of the national workforce and 35% of managerial positions – exceeding the global average.

The next phase of progress is focused on accelerating women’s advancement into leadership roles, particularly in high-growth sectors. A key enabler is the Career Progression Support Programme, a talent acceleration initiative designed to increase Bahraini participation in senior roles by incentivizing employers to hire, retain and advance national talent.

With a strong emphasis on high-potential Bahraini women, the programme works with enterprises to identify emerging leaders and prepare them for strategic roles. Participants engage in function-focused cohorts combining leadership bootcamps, applied projects and structured mentorship, strengthening both individual capability and organizational succession planning.

Key actions include:

Bahrain’s experience offers lessons that resonate well beyond its borders. The integration of skills development, gender inclusion and data-driven policy provides a replicable model for countries seeking resilient and competitive workforces amid global disruption.

By aligning the public and private sectors around a shared vision for lifelong learning, Bahrain demonstrates that economic diversification and inclusion go hand in hand. Ultimately, equipping people with future-ready skills remains the most sustainable investment a nation can make in its long-term growth and transformation.