Monday, December 1st, 2008, Seef: Through Tamkeen's expanding retail training programme, more than 2000 Bahrainis will be pumped into the retail sector.  The new programme that will roll out from March 2009, will facilitate training for retail sector jobs available to a further 1500 young Bahrainis. An agreement was signed by Tamkeen's Chief Executive Mr. Abdulelah Al Qassimi and the Chairman of the Bahrain International Retail Development Centre W.L.L., Mr. Jawad Al Hawaj to put the programme in place.

The BD1,947,500.00 three-year project will be conducted by Bahrain International Retail Development (BIRD) which was selected through a public tendering process that put the emphasis on quality delivery.

This will be the second retail industry-focused training programme that Tamkeen is supporting and Mr. Al Qassimi said it reflected the importance that Tamkeen placed on the sector's jobs potential and growth.

"Bahrain's retail sector is booming and our recent Skills Gaps survey preliminary results confirmed the growing need for trained Bahrainis for the Kingdom's booming retail, tourism and hospitality industry," Mr. Al Qassimi observed, "We want to harness the natural affinity of Bahraini young people entering the jobs market to the retail industry and the shopping experience which is what the retail industry in Bahrain is largely about.  With the right training in the different aspects of retail industry work as well as attitudinal counseling, we believe that this programme will help many Bahrainis to find exciting career openings in one of the fastest-growing service industries in the Kingdom."

The 3-year project will be divided into 12-week courses which will run for 360 hours and approximately 500 candidates will be trained by BIRD annually. These City & Guilds (U.K.)-approved courses will be conducted at the BIRD premises in Juffair as well as heavy emphasis on on-the-job training with their prospective employers.

"BIRD brings to the project a unique local expertise as well as recognised parameters of excellence," said the training provider's General Manager, Mr. Adel Redha, "BIRD was the first training provider to bring retail training in Bahrain in 2001 and we have been an approved training centre for City & Guilds 1121 Retail qualifications since 2003. Since BIRD is chaired by a prominent retailer and owned by  the Bahrain Duty Free, we have an especially close-up perspective of the needs of the Bahrain retail industry."

Mr. Redha said the changing landscape of the Bahraini workplace also meant that Bahrainis were increasingly willing to work in modern malls and retail outlets and this Tamkeen programme would harness this acceptance of a new career opportunity. With qualified, bilingual professionals as instructors and an excellent track-record, BIRD is in a very good position to train future retail industry professionals, he said.

The project targets entry-level positions as Cashiers, Sales assistants, Promoters, Beauty consultants and Merchandisers.  Merchandiser training will target 250 Bahrainis in the 18+ age group with Secondary certificates. Since the project aims to create new job-openings as well as career progress pportunities, the Merchandisers' training course will target 100 existing retail industry employees with at least 2 years job experience and 150 new entrants.

The starting salary for Merchandisers in the retail industry is BD 400.  The project will mainly train 1250 entry-level retail professionals for jobs as cashiers, sales and beauty consultants. This training opportunity will be available to Bahrainis of 16 years and above who have a minimum Secondary qualification. The starting salary for this level is BD 250. Trainees will have to pass English-language, numeracy and aptitude and personality assessment tests to qualify for the programme.

"We shall be recruiting trainees through advertisements and booths in shopping malls and expand this drive to include career expos in the near future," said Mr. Redha, "We also expect the retail industry to send us new recruits and promising employees for training. Eligible candidates can also apply in person or through our website."

Tamkeen's earliest efforts to add muscle to the retail industry's Bahrainisation efforts was a BD 950,000 training programme managed by the Bahrain Institute for Hospitality and Management (BIHR), under which 650 Bahrainis are undergoing training and 300 were guaranteed jobs by the Al Rashid Group under an MoU signed between Tamkeen and the group.

Tamkeen also pushed the retail sector to the forefront with a Career Progression Programme training scheme managed by BDO Jawad Habib. The programme is created to benefit the Bahraini workforce who earn a monthly basic salary between 200-400 Bahraini Dinars which will improve their productivity and allow them to be the employees of choice.

Salary levels in the retail sector begin at BD 250 for entry-level jobs, BD 350 for supervisory level jobs and BD 500 for managerial job.

Bahrain International Retail Development Centre W.L.L (BIRD) is a joint venture set up by Bahrain Duty Free Shop Complex BSc. and Aer Rianta International Middle East (ARIME) W.L.L. since 2001. It is one of the leading training providers in Bahrain and strives to prove quality in design and delivery of the training programmes with continuous effort to improve its services and add value to assure that training process is an investment in human resources.

It offers a wide range of Management, Marketing & Sales, Customer service, Retail, Purchasing & Supply chain and Business English language courses to assist the participants in their professional development. Within the above categories it offers customized, company specific programmes to meet a broad spectrum of training needs from entry level through intermediate and advanced professional levels.  In addition BIRD conducts workshops or open programmes on regular basis on various subjects/areas for which the interested organizations can nominate their staff according to their requirements.

BIRD is an approved training and examination centre for City & Guilds International Retail qualifications at three levels:
 
0.Level 1 - Certificate in Retail
0.Level 2 - Diploma in Retail
0.Level 3 - Advanced Diploma in Retail

BIRD has successfully completed various training programmes and workshops for many leading organisations both in public and private sector such as Jashanmals, BMMI, Batelco, Intercol, Ashrafs, Bin Hindi, Bahrain Duty Free, Y.K. Almoayed & sons, Ashraf BGDC, Zayani Motors, Bahrain Airport Services, Al Hawaj, Ministry of Labour & Social affairs, Ministry of Commerce, Ministry of Electricity & Water etc.
 
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Tamkeen (Labour Fund):
The Kingdom of Bahrain has taken vital steps towards a labour market reform which is an essential stride to ensure that the human capital of the country is developed and that employment is made more attractive for localisation as well as to improve performances of businesses.  The strive towards labour reform will impact the Kingdom's economy and raise standards of living as well as pose a challenging commitment to the improvement of services in Bahrain. 

Formerly known as the Labour Fund, Tamkeen is a semi-autonomous yet independent authority which formulates strategic and operational plans to use the fees collected by the LMRA in order to enhance the overall prosperity of Bahrain by investing in Bahraini employability, job creation, and social support. Hence, the Tamkeen (Labour Fund)'s main objectives are to support Bahrainis to become the employees of choice, and (ii) to support high quality private sector job creation and helping the private sector cope with the impact of labour market reform.

For Media Enquiries, you may contact: 
Marketing Communications Department
Tamkeen (Labour Fund)
Kingdom of Bahrain
Tel 17383335/17383327
Fax: 17382352
email info@tamkeen.bh
Website : www.tamkeen.bh

© Press Release 2008