Hiring in UAE: New Work Bundle initiative cuts steps, documents for businesses

Abu Dhabi: The UAE Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratization (MOHRE) has revealed the significant impact of its smart service initiative, the "Work Bundle," which has become one of its most transformative digital solutions.

The service has successfully reduced key employment-related procedures by 72 per cent, data entry fields by 93 per cent, required documents by 79 per cent, and physical visits by 77 per cent — ultimately reducing overall transaction completion time by an impressive 83 per cent.

Offered through the integrated digital platform "Work in the UAE," the Work Bundle provides a streamlined suite of services that allow private sector companies and individuals to complete employment and residency procedures efficiently. The platform is the result of a strategic partnership between the Ministry, the Federal Authority for Identity, Citizenship, Customs and Port Security, Emirates Health Services, the Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory Authority (TDRA), and the Abu Dhabi Department of Health.

The Ministry emphasised that the Work Bundle is designed to simplify and streamline employee and business management processes across the UAE’s private sector. By integrating multiple related services into a single unified platform — based on a one-time data submission model and a consolidated payment system — the initiative is built on the principles of proactive government service delivery.

The bundle brings together three core services essential to employee management:

The Work Bundle adds significant value by offering a unified and user-friendly experience through a single application shared across all relevant entities. It incorporates a standardized payment model, eliminates the need for multiple visits, reduces documentation, and enables seamless data exchange between government partners through unified integration mechanisms.

This initiative reflects the UAE’s broader commitment to enhancing digital government services and improving operational efficiency for both individuals and businesses.

The "Work Bundle" initiative supports the national drive towards digital transformation and the enhancement of government digital services. It aims to save time and effort for business owners by simplifying employee onboarding procedures through a streamlined process that consolidates data requests and document submissions into a single step. This simplification reduces the need for in-person visits to service centers.

The "Work Bundle" is one of the key initiatives driving significant improvements in the ease of managing business operations, thereby directly contributing to strengthening the UAE’s competitiveness in global indices related to ease of doing business for private sector companies of all sizes.

Additionally, the "Work Bundle" enhances the user experience by replacing five separate platforms with a unified one. This new approach reduces the number of services from eight to a single seamless journey, cutting the process from 15 steps requiring 16 documents to just 5 steps with only 5 documents. It also reduces the number of required visits from seven to just two, significantly decreasing the processing time from 30 working days to just 5.

The initiative further aims to simplify procedures and minimize the time and effort required from users. Its impact is reflected in an annual reduction of 25 million procedural steps, 12.5 million physical visits, and 62.5 million working days.

The "Work Bundle" serves the business community by streamlining and accelerating workforce management procedures in private sector companies, consolidating them into a single platform. It enables business owners to onboard new employees and access a range of employee-related services — including the issuance, renewal, and cancellation of work permits and residency, as well as medical examination and biometric services for ID issuance — all through one integrated bundle.

This initiative is the result of close collaboration among federal, local, and private sector entities: the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratization, the Federal Authority for Identity, Citizenship, Customs and Port Security, the General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs – Dubai, Dubai Health, and the Department of Economy and Tourism in Dubai. Together, they have enabled users to complete their transactions with fewer steps via the digital platform offering these services.