This isn’t the first time I’ve written about Brunei’s employment struggle—and sadly, it won’t be the last.
The same stories keep resurfacing online:
“No callbacks.” “No proper contracts.” “Just waiting.” “Got hired, but sidelined.” “Treated like we’re second-class in our own country.”
Even those who manage to get a foot in the door often walk into foreign-dominated offices where locals are treated as liabilities instead of talent. Toxic environments. Unequal pay. Biased management.
The silent migration out of Brunei. It isn’t just about a lack of jobs - it’s about the loss of dignity.
This article connects the dots between policies, job centres, red tape, and the real frustrations simmering beneath our national workforce dreams.
By Malai Hassan Othman
Bandar Seri Begawan, 26 May 2025: As the world hurtles toward automation and artificial intelligence (AI), Brunei continues to grapple with an old and unresolved dilemma: how to ensure its citizens secure meaningful, sustainable employment.
While other governments are equipping their populations to adapt to new technologies, Brunei’s private sector remains heavily dependent on foreign labour, particularly in construction, agriculture, food services, and retail, despite over three decades of the 'Bruneianisation' policy.
The Ministry of Home Affairs recently revealed that 83% of workers in construction and more than 60% in food, accommodation, and manufacturing sectors are foreigners. These figures have remained largely unchanged since the early 2000s, and that in itself signals a structural problem.
Brunei’s labour force participation rate declined from 68.5% in 2001 to just 64% in 2023, one of the lowest in the region, despite the availability of free education and a high literacy rate.
This downward trend is not due to a lack of policy, but rather a persistent failure in implementation and enforcement.
In 2018, the Ministry of Energy, Manpower and Industry (MEMI) was established to streamline national workforce planning. However, within a year, it was restructured under the Prime Minister’s Office, with the Manpower Planning and Employment Council (MPEC) taking over.
MPEC rolled out programs such as ARMECS Bridging, SkillsPlus, and national upskilling frameworks. Under the Twelfth National Development Plan (RKN12) for 2024 to 2029, 305 projects are being pursued across six strategic thrusts to support Wawasan 2035. Strategic Thrust 2 focuses on creating a workforce aligned with industry needs. This includes the formation of the Manpower Planning Office (MPO) in 2019 and the Manpower Industry Steering Committee, which monitors labour demand across five priority sectors: energy, construction, logistics, hospitality and tourism, and ICT.
The government has also upgraded technical institutions such as IBTE’s School of Hospitality and Tourism and the aircraft maintenance training centre, expanded the STEAM programme through MOE’s STEP Centre, and advanced reforms under the national TVET Transformation Plan. Early indicators show moderate gains: the local workforce rose from 72,000 in 2018 to 86,000 in 2023. Still, 47.8% of the unemployed only possess secondary-level education, indicating a skills mismatch that has yet to be resolved.
In the 2025 Legislative Council session, Minister at the Prime Minister’s Office and Minister of Finance and Economy II, Dato Seri Setia Dr. Awang Haji Mohd Amin Liew bin Abdullah, reported over 3,500 vacancies available and stressed the need for more effective job matching. However, he also acknowledged continued dissatisfaction from employers over local workers’ skills and reliability. The proposed target to replace 5,000 foreign workers with Bruneians was met with cautious optimism, but lingering doubts remained.
A contractor remarked, “We offer $600 for construction jobs. No locals show up. The few that do usually quit after a week.”
JobCentre Brunei was introduced to ensure that all vacancies are advertised publicly before foreign workers can be hired. Modelled after Singapore’s Jobs Bank, the system was intended to prioritise local recruitment. Yet, more than 60% of employers still report difficulty retaining local hires, often citing absenteeism, poor discipline, and sudden resignations.
One graduate voiced frustration on Reddit: “I applied three times to the same company. They reposted the vacancy again and again, but never called me. The position was already filled by a foreigner.”
For many businesses, complying with the JobCentre’s listing rule is a procedural formality. Once the mandatory waiting period lapses, they proceed to justify foreign hiring by declaring “no suitable local candidate.”
These procedural gaps not only discourage genuine engagement but also deepen public cynicism. Social media is awash with grievances about toxic work environments, meagre wages, and ineffective labour regulation.
Some citizens recount how employers routinely hire foreigners over locals or dismiss Bruneian staff for trivial reasons.
Public confidence took another hit when several immigration officers were prosecuted between 2020 and 2022 for accepting bribes and forging documents to fast-track foreign labour permits. Concerns were also raised about internal collusion, following investigations that revealed irregularities in the processing of foreign labour permits.
His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah responded with unannounced visits to key departments, where inefficiencies and misconduct were exposed firsthand.
Yet dysfunction persists. Retired civil servants who transitioned into entrepreneurship recount obstacles like excessive red tape, delayed approvals, and petty abuse of authority by minor officials.
“We spent $40,000 to open a bakery. Licensing delays and redundant inspections drained our resources. We closed within a year,” said one retiree.
This is not a story of Bruneians avoiding work. It is one of systemic demoralisation—where effort is stifled by bureaucracy, and where 'Little Napoleons' wield administrative power as gatekeepers of progress. Skilled Bruneians are quietly migrating. One user claimed a fellow Bruneian produced promotional videos for Qatar Airways. “Here, we’re told to lower our standards instead of lifting our potential,” another lamented.
Even with a BND500 minimum wage in select private sectors, many young Bruneians are turning away from formal employment. Instead, they hustle in the gig economy—selling food online, driving for DART, freelancing. Not because they want to, but because they feel they have no choice.
Neighbouring countries are advancing swiftly. Malaysia and Singapore are using real-time labour data. South Korea is investing in workforce reskilling. Vietnam is building technical institutions aligned with foreign investment. Brunei, meanwhile, remains mired in outdated processes. According to the UNDP Human Development Report 2025, if not guided wisely, AI and automation may only entrench existing inequalities.
Wawasan 2035 was envisioned as a bold turning point. Without the political courage to confront reality, it risks becoming just another grand announcement that never reaches its destination.
Brunei doesn’t need more glossy frameworks or ceremonial launches. It needs clarity, transparency, and conviction. Publish real data. Evaluate ministries by employment outcomes, not paperwork processed. Provide safe avenues for feedback. As the UNDP notes, the future is not defined by what machines can do, but by what we choose to do with them.
Until that courage appears—not as slogans but as systemic reform—foreign hands will keep the wheels turning, while Bruneians remain observers in an economy they were once promised to lead.
“I’m 32. Graduated seven years ago. Never made permanent. Took every SPA exam, joined every I-Ready programme. Now I’m just rotting away.”
That may be the hardest truth. This country is rich in potential. But the door remains closed. (MHO/05/2025)
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