Khaberni - Zain Group announced that it topped the telecommunications sector in Middle East markets in the annual Forbes ranking for “Best Global Employers,” and was among the top three “Employers” in regional markets.
Zain, the leader in technological innovations, explained that the Forbes list of best employers for 2025 included a number of prominent Gulf and Arab companies and institutions in the energy and gas sectors, transportation and aviation, telecommunications, retail, and construction sectors, including 900 global companies selected from thousands of entities in more than 50 countries, based on a massive global survey involving more than 300,000 employees, where the assessment relied on precise criteria including job satisfaction, professional growth opportunities, and general reputation, with greater weight given to the opinions of current employees.
The importance of this ranking lies in being a vital guide for employees looking for work environments that support innovation and balance between professional and personal life, especially in light of global economic challenges and rapid changes in the job market, and it serves as a strong signal for companies to improve their internal policies, as results showed significant improvements in advanced training programs and mental health support.
At a time when companies strive to attract talent, this annual ranking conducted by Forbes in collaboration with Statista appears as a strategic tool to enhance competition, highlighting the importance of evaluating the quality of work environments, encouraging transparency, and raising global employment standards, as well as encouraging the adoption of best practices in job satisfaction and professional growth, and empowering individuals to make informed decisions about their career paths in a rapidly changing job market.
It is worth mentioning that amid its strategic vision in enhancing work environments, Zain Group renewed its deep commitment to shaping a brighter future by empowering individuals and communities with a series of initiatives to address multiple regional challenges. The group starts from a firm conviction that "corporate purpose" is not just a management approach, but it is a fundamental driver for positive impact.
Zain affirms its resolve in contributing to a better future, and in a way that helps people grow and live prosperously, always at the heart of its business strategy. In a region facing a series of difficult challenges, having a comprehensive strategy in the areas of inclusion, diversity, equity, and sustainability is essential for it.
Zain Group is classified as a regional leader in the fields of sustainability, inclusion, diversity, and equity, considering these areas as the main pillars it focuses on in building a work culture that includes everyone. It recognizes these areas as part of its ethical commitment, realizing that empowering young talents in work environments contributes not only to social development but also paves the way for positive transformation in the region's communities.
Zain plays a vital role in driving economic growth in the region's markets, by creating direct job opportunities and establishing strategic partnerships that cement its status as a main catalyst for sustainable development in the communities it operates in. It goes beyond simply providing telecommunications services to building an integrated economic and social system that makes a real difference in people's lives.
The group opens new horizons of opportunities in work environments through its vast business network in the Middle East and Africa, supporting thousands of employees, distributors, and franchisees, which positively reflects on the quality of life for individuals and their families. It believes that building an advanced work culture that includes everyone is the way to achieve long-term community gains.
Zain continues to drive the agenda of responsible business aligned with its corporate purpose in making meaningful impacts amid the rapid transformations seen in global markets. Investing in skills and talent forms the cornerstone of its business strategies, where it is classified among the leading institutions in promoting a culture of inclusion, diversity, and equity in the Middle East, following the launch of programs that ensure balanced representation of all categories.
These efforts include initiatives and programs focused on building awareness and necessary skills to support the values of inclusion with a commitment to comprehensive policies that provide accessibility for everyone, which has contributed to the participation of thousands of employees annually in initiatives that enhance diversity, equity, and reduce social gaps within the work environment.
Currently, Zain is implementing a variety of initiatives and programs aimed at empowering youth and promoting innovation and talent development, which has made it possess a vibrant work environment attractive to ambitious youth in the fields of technology and digital transformation. In this context, Zain's efforts exceed traditional methods of developing work environments to include mental health support, providing opportunities for continuous professional development, focusing on well-being, empowering women, and integrating people with disabilities, with a clear focus on building a strong base of local and regional competencies.
Zain has successfully graduated large numbers of qualified young people into the job market, enhancing its status as a regional leader in building diverse and inclusive work environments. It has produced generations capable of decision-making, highlighting its concern for proper planning of leadership ranks, exemplified by the recently launched career succession planning program at the middle management level.
WE SUCCEED
Zain Group launched WE SUCCEED, an ongoing organizational initiative that includes identifying and preparing potential candidates to fill positions that may be vacant, aiming to establish succession plans to ensure the company's continued efficient operation. This initiative's first launch involved middle management participation and included providing mentorship training for the best-performing members in the "Khaberni" program.
Inclusion Index
Zain Group conducted a survey to measure the current state of inclusion within its business system and compare its performance in the field of inclusion against global standards with about 1000 leading companies. This initiative made Zain the first of its kind in the region to introduce the Inclusion and Diversity Excellence (IDE Score), designed to assess inclusion levels throughout its operations and identify disparities and understand their overall performance impact.
Zain Group places great importance on developing the work environment by promoting diversity and inclusion, aiming to create a balanced work culture that stimulates innovation and attracts diverse talents, while working to increase employee retention and achieve a balance between professional and social life.
WE EMPOWER WOMEN
Among its most notable initiatives in this field is the WE initiative, aimed at empowering women and closing the leadership gaps between genders, and providing development and training programs and succession planning. It highlights the gender gap in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics fields and strives to integrate women in economic arenas and employment, decision-making, and entrepreneurship. The group has launched strong developmental programs that have led to the promotion of female leaders.
Recently, the group launched the NOVA program for women in technical fields, aimed at addressing skill gaps for more than 200 women across its operations, where the group is aiming to raise the percentage of female leaders to 25%, and has introduced a progressive policy by extending maternity leave to four months paid, followed by flexible working hours for four years upon return.
WE ABLE
As part of its support for inclusion, Zain launched the WE ABLE initiative, aimed at creating an inclusive and accessible work environment for people with special needs through designing training courses, redesigning the recruitment processes, and implementing changes in communications. The group has entered into partnerships with international entities such as The Valuable 500 and the International Labour Organization to ensure full inclusivity at touchpoints by 2025, and has published a special statement on reasonable accommodations across its recruitment websites to remove barriers for people with special needs.
BE WELL
Zain Group launched the BE WELL initiative, the first mental health strategy in the job markets of the region, aimed at improving the mental health of employees through self-help applications and workshops on nutrition and mindfulness. Zain grants an annual holiday to all its employees on World Mental Health Day and believes in a culture of shared knowledge and professional growth. It launched the REACH initiative, which allows employees opportunities to connect and build skills in a safe and inclusive environment.
Zainiac
In the field of internal innovation, Zain launched the Zainiac platform, aiming to create a culture of innovation and encouraging ideas among employees, where they can present their ideas and attend workshops on design thinking. More than 2300 employees have been trained and certified so far, with a plan to train an additional 1200 employees by the end of the year, and the platform works on nurturing talent and training employees in business models, technology, and leadership.
Generation Z
Zain is the ideal place for recent graduates to start their careers, through the "Generation Z" program launched six years ago, aimed at training young people and empowering them throughout a full year, to build Future leadership ranks. It is committed to adopting quality initiatives that contribute to honing the skills of young people, especially in the fields of leadership, innovation, and social entrepreneurship, to qualify them to play pivotal roles, and it continues to support young people through the known Zain Youth initiative, focused on empowering them in the workplace.
Zain Group is committed to supporting global and local human rights requirements, integrating these principles into its corporate policies and codes of conduct, and emphasizing human rights issues that affect its employees and its value chain. It implements an Environmental and Social Management Plan to protect employees from exposure to electromagnetic fields and other hazards, and seeks to establish a leadership culture that prioritizes diversity as a personal priority for executives, integrating concepts of inclusion in all aspects of the work environment.
With the development of business in the increasingly digital space, it was necessary to accompany this with the development of company goals and messages to keep up with this change. It was essential for Zain to develop its brand and integrate its values to align with the new goals of its business strategy 4WARD, which focuses on collaborative growth, purpose, and impact to enable Zain to achieve its goal of being an inspiring technological leader in the markets of the Middle East.
Zain is proud to be a haven for distinguished international educational experiences, combining high academic standards and ambitious local vision to empower young national talents. It continues to enhance the skills of its employees by raising their competencies or requalifying them in line with its digital transformation strategy, where Zain University of Inclusion, Diversity, and Equity (IDEU) has expanded its collaboration with IE University in Spain to broaden learning opportunities for its employees, including the possibility of obtaining a master's degree.
Innovation from within.. How Zain reshapes its environment and culture to lead the digital future
In its quest to establish a culture of innovation and enhance creative thinking, Zain Group launched an integrated policy aimed at transforming the work environment into a space that stimulates problem-solving in unconventional ways. This vision aligns with the group’s ambition to be the premier provider of innovative solutions, allowing its customers to adopt a sophisticated digital lifestyle.
To institutionalize this approach, Zain has placed "the purpose" at the heart of its operational plans to align the company's goals with employee aspirations, and enhance the presence of humanity and innovation at every juncture of the work environment. In a step that reflects this approach, Zain launched the comprehensive cultural transformation program "UNITY," which integrates the philosophy of corporate purpose with customer experience and enhances internal collaboration by adopting a humanistic approach in daily transactions, making this program the cornerstone of the customer experience strategy led by the vision.
These initiatives come at a time when the Middle East and North Africa region faces significant challenges in employing youth, where the unemployment rate among the young demographic reached 24.4% last year, nearly double the global average, and the region recorded the lowest employment rate for youth relative to the population at 18.5%. This reflects the urgent need for sustainable career paths and skill development in the face of digital transformation reshaping the region's economies.
In response to this reality, Zain places empowering youth and addressing skill gaps at the core of its talent strategy, offering training programs and professional development resources specifically designed to meet regional market needs and building a workforce capable of keeping pace with the accelerated digital system. In maintaining its competitiveness in the telecommunications sector undergoing fast-paced transformations due to digital innovation, Zain is developing workforce management methodologies, focusing on professional rehabilitation and skill updating in line with the requirements of the upcoming phase.
Globally, estimates indicate that 75% of jobs will require advanced digital skills by 2030, prompting Zain to adopt a proactive approach in building capabilities to ensure its teams are ready to keep pace with technical developments and retain competencies in a highly competitive market.
Zain believes that continuous education is the fundamental pillar for a flexible and motivated workforce, and for this reason, it integrates talent development into its strategies, prioritizing employee well-being and sustainable learning to ensure a work environment adaptable to changes.
