Khaberni - Suddenly, with escalating tensions in the region, the Ministry of Electricity and Energy in Egypt issued a final alert to about 10,000 technical workers and Egyptian engineers in the Gulf to immediately return to the country, and to take up their official duties starting from the current month of March, confirmed in a message sent from the chairman of the Egypt Electricity Holding Company, Engineer Jaber Desouky, that they will not allow the renewal of leave for those who have exceeded 5 years of unpaid leave.
The Holding Company for Electricity had included counted periods of scholarships and domestic training, as well as leave for parental care or due to health conditions, within the exemption period for working abroad; this made most travellers required to immediately return to the country under difficult regional circumstances, where the receiving countries are facing pressures on the operation of power stations and networks, with the Egyptian workforce stuck between fears of returning to face the living cost increase in Egypt, and losing their jobs domestically or abroad.
Moomen (38 years old), a technician specialized in building and maintaining power stations, had never imagined that the years of expatriation he bore for his family could suddenly end with an administrative decision issued on February 24, 2025, to organize the procedures for obtaining leave for workers in the electricity sector, to be implemented suddenly with all the travelers from the electricity sector abroad in a shocking manner.
Moomen, a first-class electrical technician at one of the electricity production companies, had obtained an unpaid leave to work abroad, which was renewed annually according to the rules applicable in the sector. It wasn't an exception or a loophole in the law, but rather a normal course thousands of engineers and technicians in the electricity sector took in search of an opportunity to improve their living standards.
Today, Moomen finds himself, according to his talk to "Al-Arabi Al-Jadeed", at a harsh crossroads after a decision by the Egypt Electricity Holding Company that sets a maximum limit on unpaid special leave at only five years throughout the service period, with the new rule being applied immediately to those already abroad.
The decision, which seems administrative on paper, has turned into a real crisis threatening the financial and occupational stability of thousands of families.
