Hiring in Egypt: the rising nearshore hub for Europe and MEA.
A 100-million-person market, deep multilingual talent (Arabic, English, French, German, Italian), favorable time zones for Europe, and a labour code mid-modernization.
Egypt has quietly become one of the most interesting nearshore hubs for European, Gulf, and African companies. The talent pool is large, multilingual, and well-educated; Cairo and Alexandria sit in the same business day as Frankfurt, Paris, and Dubai; and a new Labour Law (Law No. 14 of 2025) is replacing the long-standing 2003 statute, modernizing parts of the regime that had become outdated.
For two decades, employment in Egypt was governed by Labour Law No. 12 of 2003. In 2025, that statute was replaced by Law No. 14 of 2025, which keeps the broad structure but updates contract rules, fixed-term provisions, termination procedures, and dispute resolution mechanisms. Some implementing regulations were still rolling out at the time of writing — always verify the current text and the relevant ministerial decrees with the Ministry of Manpower before drafting contracts.
- Written contracts in Arabic are required; bilingual (Arabic + English) is best practice for foreign employers.
- Probation: maximum 3 months. Cannot be renewed.
- Fixed-term and indefinite contracts both recognized; specific rules govern renewals.
- Working hours: 8 hours/day, 48 hours/week. Overtime at 1.35× day, 1.7× night, 2× rest days.
- Weekly rest: at least one full day (typically Friday in private sector).
- Annual leave: 21 days minimum after 1 year of service; 30 days after 10 years or for employees aged 50+.
- Sick leave: up to 180 days/year at varying pay percentages, with medical certification.
- Maternity leave: 4 months paid (typically 75% via employer, balance via social insurance), entitlement up to 3 times during employment.
- Public holidays: ~13–15 days/year (mix of national and religious holidays — Ramadan, Eid).
Termination of an indefinite contract requires lawful grounds (poor performance with documented warnings, misconduct under specified categories, redundancy with proper notice, or mutual agreement). Notice period is typically 2 months (3 months for >10 years of service). Wrongful termination claims go to the Labour Court and can result in reinstatement or compensation. Mutual separation agreements with written settlements are widely used and effective.
- Multilingual talent: large pools fluent in Arabic, English, French, German, and Italian — driven by Egypt's higher-education language tracks and German/French university partnerships.
- Time zone: GMT+2 — full overlap with European business hours, partial overlap with US east coast.
- Cost: senior engineers and bilingual support agents at 30–60% of European equivalents.
- Government incentives: tax holidays and special economic zone benefits for BPO/ITES exporters in zones like the Suez Canal Economic Zone and Smart Village.
- Growing global capability center (GCC) presence — Vodafone, Orange, Valeo, IBM, and others have major Cairo and Alexandria operations.
- Use bilingual Arabic/English contracts compliant with Labour Law 14/2025.
- Register with the Ministry of Manpower and NOSI before the first hire.
- Cap probation at 3 months — non-renewable.
- Budget for 2-month notice periods (3 months for long-tenure) and proper end-of-service entitlements.
- For sub-25 hires, an EOR (Deel, Remote, Multiplier, Workpay) is the cleanest path; entity setup is worth it at scale.
- Plan around Ramadan working hours (reduced by 2 hours/day for fasting Muslim employees, by law).