As Egypt begins implementing its new Labour Law No. 14 of 2025, a roundtable brought together relevant national and international stakeholders, including more than 100 representatives of private recruitment agencies, to reinforce fair recruitment practices as they examined the realities faced by private employment agencies. 

In a roundtable held in partnership between Egypt’s Ministry of Labour and the ILO, stakeholders convened to explore the current landscape of private employment agencies and the challenges they face in facilitating fair recruitment of Egyptians abroad. The event was held under the EU-funded programme "Towards a Holistic Approach to Labour Migration Governance and Labour Mobility in North Africa" (THAMM Plus), which promotes safe migration and fair recruitment in Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia with the EU. 

It comes as Egypt begins enforcing the new Labour Law No. 14 of 2025, thus an open exchange was held with Egyptian Minister of Labour Mohamed Gobran, ILO Cairo Director Eric Oechslin, and Legal Advisor Ehab Abdel Aaty, who responded to questions from recruitment agencies on the realities of the sector. This included clarity on licensing and renewal requirements and forms of collaboration to strengthen fair recruitment for Egyptians seeking to work abroad. 

Technical presentations throughout the day included a briefing on the new labour law by the Ministry’s Legal Advisor Ehab Abdel Aaty, a session on the World Employment Confederation’s Code of Conduct for employment agencies presented by Miran Osama, and a technical overview of recruitment costs and global good practices led by Hans van de Glind, International Consultant with the ILO. 

The day concluded with several open dialogue sessions with attending employment agencies, that tackled practical opportunities for strengthening governance of labour migration, promoting safe migration and fair recruitment in Egypt, across the region and globally.