The global employment landscape is in flux, shaped by rapid technological advancements and evolving geopolitical priorities. As 2025 begins, the debate about the future of work has become a defining issue worldwide. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the United States, where President-elect Donald Trump is reigniting the conversation about the role of foreign workers in America’s labour market.
Trump’s appointment of Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy to lead the Department of Government Efficiency (DODGE) signals a bold, pragmatic approach to tackling inefficiencies and streamlining federal processes. Among their priorities is the controversial expansion of the H-1B visa programme, which allows US companies to hire highly skilled foreign workers. Musk, a long-time proponent of the programme, argues that welcoming global talent is crucial for maintaining America’s dominance in technology and innovation.
This vision, however, has sparked fierce opposition within the MAGA movement. Critics argue that expanding foreign worker programmes, especially for Asian workers, undermines American jobs and wages, feeding into the broader global trend of labour market protectionism. In Europe, similar sentiments have fuelled right-wing policies advocating stricter immigration controls. Meanwhile, advances in artificial intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT) are automating tasks once performed by humans, displacing traditional roles and demanding new skill sets.
In the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), these trends offer both challenges and opportunities. The GCC’s ambitious economic diversification agendas, such as the Sultanate of Oman Vision 2040 and Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030, depend heavily on adapting to global shifts in the labour market. To address these changes effectively, the GCC will benefit greatly from focusing on what really matters, which is that diversity is our most significant factor contributing to our strength and prosperity, a point that seems to be losing ground in the mainstream cultures in the US and Europe. GCC should also focus on crafting harmonised residency policies that attract and retain highly skilled workers while investing in the education and upskilling of its workforce.
A potential global best practice the GCC can adapt is Singapore’s SkillsFuture initiative. This programme offers citizens and residents lifelong learning credits, enabling them to pursue training in high-demand sectors such as AI, robotics and green energy. By creating a similar GCC-wide skills development platform, the region could prepare its workforce for the demands of the future while fostering economic integration and resilience.
Moreover, the GCC can enhance its collective competitiveness by developing AI-powered job-matching platforms that connect talent with opportunities across member states. This technology-driven approach would allow for seamless mobility of labor within the region, encouraging collaboration and reducing redundancies in labour market policies.
The stakes are high. The future of work is not only about technological adaptation but also about fostering an environment where human capital can thrive amid change. A unified GCC strategy that combines cutting-edge technology, progressive residency policies and continuous workforce development could position the region as a global leader in the future of work.
By acting decisively, the GCC has an opportunity to transform global employment challenges into a platform for sustainable growth, setting a precedent for other regions to follow.
Khalid Alsafi al Huraibi
The writer is an innovator and an insights storyteller.
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