Humaidan praises Carrefour's efforts in recruiting national capabilities

18-11-2022

H.E. Mr. Jameel bin Mohammed Ali Humaidan, Minister of Labour, stressed on the continuation of efforts to accelerate the pace of employment and integration of nationals in various economic and commercial sectors in the Kingdom of Bahrain, in light of the economic recovery plan. The minister pointed to the importance of strengthening cooperation with the private sector in order to achieve national goals in the labour market by sustaining stability and the capacity to generate more suitable jobs for citizens and develop them professionally in companies and institutions. This came during a statement made by the minister after his visit on Thursday to Carrefour (owned and operated by Majid Al Futtaim) in the Kingdom of Bahrain. Humaidan met with Mr. Laurent Hauskencht, Country Manager at Majid Al Futtaim Retail, Mr. Mohamed Farhat, Vice President Human Capital and Mr. Ghassan Al Jaroudi, Head Commercial & Operations. The minister was briefed on the plans and efforts that are being made to recruit more national capabilities at the various branches of the company in the respective governorates. The visit was to express thanks and gratitude to the company's management after the positive results achieved in employing promising national youth at various job levels. During the period from 2021 and 2022, the company employed (163) job seekers in all its branches, bringing the total number of employees to (332) Bahrainis. The company supports the employment of national capabilities on the part-time basis, which include people with special needs. The company's Bahrainisation rate was 32%. In this context, Humaidan praised Carrefour's strategy in strengthening its administrative and technical teams with Bahraini competencies, stressing that the national element is the real capital of companies and institutions in order to achieve more growth and productivity. The minister referred to the successful experiences achieved by citizens at various stages of employment in the private sector, calling on various establishments to strengthen their job structure by including qualified Bahraini manpower and to benefit from the advantages provided by the government from wage support, free training and other facilities. For his part, Mr. Laurent Hauskencht praised the national capabilities working at Majid Al Futtaim for their remarkable productivity, stressing that the high rates of employment of Bahrainis in the company is due to their ingenuity, discipline and keen sense of responsibility. With that said, he referred to the incentives provided by the Ministry of Labour to the private sector for recruiting job seekers and developing them professionally. Mr. Hauskecht reaffirmed the company’s determination to support all efforts and initiatives aimed at attracting and employing nationals. During his visit, Humaidan met with a group of Bahraini employees working for the company and listened to the success stories of a number of them, and their career progression thanks to their persistence to continue developing and promoting their country. The minister greatly appreciated the support granted by Carrefour for promising Bahraini capabilities. H.E. the Minister of Labour also met with Mr. Mohammed Mohsen Ali, President of the Bahrain Agricultural Cooperative Society and a number of Bahraini farmers who supply Carrefour Bahrain with their local agricultural produce and congratulated the company and the society for finding such a fruitful cooperation between them.