Manama, The Labour Fund (Tamkeen) has announced new updates to the National Employment Program aimed at incentivizing the employment of national talent and providing additional solutions catered to employer's needs. These updates include support for the Ministry of Labour's Jobs+ programme, where employers can receive subsidies for recruited candidates. Additionally, new wage support tracks have been introduced, allowing enterprises to choose between the three available options. The current track of the National Employment Programme supports private sector employees' wages to encourage enterprises to hire Bahrainis, where the support period spans for three years with 70% wage subsidy in the first year, 50% in the second year, and 30% in the third year. The newly introduced tracks provide two new options for the support percentage and duration such as supporting 50% of the employee's wage for three years or 30% for five years. Maha Abdulhameed Mofeez, CEO of Tamkeen, emphasised Tamkeen's commitment to sup porting the employment of Bahrainis by facilitating their entry into the labor market and enhancing their career prospects to secure jobs that match their qualifications. "Supporting the employment of Bahraini talent is one of Tamkeen's top priorities. Since our inception, we have been continuously to provide programs and initiatives that align with labour market needs and facilitate job opportunities for local talent," Mofeez said. "This aligns with our mandate of making Bahrainis the preferred choice for employment in the labour market. These updates to the National Employment Program cater to labour market needs and create a supportive environment that boosts growth and development opportunities for Bahrainis, in line with our strategic objectives." The Ministry of Labour launched the Jobs+ programme, the first of its kind in the Kingdom, earlier this year in partnership with the private sector, aiming to increase the employment channels available to Bahrainis. Jobs+ provides tailored services to job se ekers, both registered and unregistered with the Ministry of Labour, that matches their skills. These services include career counselling, job matching, and regular follow-ups to help job seekers secure appropriate and sustainable employment opportunities. The programme also encourages private sector enterprises to post their job vacancies through the Jobs+ platform and benefit from the various support bundles for hiring local talent. Bahraini job seekers can apply for the programme through the Jobsplus.bh website, and enterprises can fill out the form on the same website to post available job vacancies. Source: Bahrain News Agency