As Emirati participation in the private sector expands, GPSSA is using digital integration and connected government services to expand social security coverage, simplify the employment journey and support Emiratization.
A first salary marks more than the beginning of a new source of income. It also starts a financial record that may shape an employee’s life decades later.
Every contribution, year of service and verified employment detail can affect future pension benefits. Yet starting work and securing social security coverage have traditionally been treated as separate administrative processes.
The UAE’s General Pension and Social Security Authority (GPSSA), set out to connect them.
The number of Emiratis working in the private sector and insured through GPSSA rose from 19,878 in 2021 to more than 120,000 in 2026. As the workforce expanded, the Authority needed to ensure that pension coverage kept pace.
The response was not simply to process registrations faster. It was to redesign the journey around the employment event itself.
Instead of asking only who had submitted an application, the system increasingly identifies who has entered eligible employment and whether that person’s social security coverage is in place.
That shift, from processing requests to recognizing entitlements, has made pension protection part of starting a job rather than a separate procedure that follows it.
More Than a Retirement Benefit
Pensions are often discussed as an issue for the end of a career. In practice, a trusted pension framework is part of the infrastructure supporting the workforce from the beginning.
For citizens, it provides confidence that building a private-sector career does not mean leaving long-term social protection behind. For employers, it offers a clear framework for registration, contributions and employee rights.
GPSSA therefore supports the UAE’s Emiratization priorities by providing pension and social security protection throughout an Emirati’s working life, while making employment-related processes more efficient for employers and employees.
Federal Decree-Law No. 57 of 2023 on Pension and Social Security reinforced this framework through structural changes relating to contributions, service periods and retirement eligibility for the categories covered by it.
Legislation establishes rights and obligations. Administrative capability determines how efficiently people experience them.
One Employment Journey
The transformation reflects a wider UAE approach to organizing government services around significant moments in people’s lives rather than institutional boundaries.
A person beginning a new job does not experience the process as a series of government mandates. For the employee, it is one event: starting work.
The UAE’s Work Bundle brings employment-related services into a more integrated journey. Pension registration becomes part of that process instead of an additional transaction for the employer or employee to navigate separately.
This life-event approach was an important enabler of comprehensive social security coverage. It allowed participating entities to work towards one shared outcome: identifying eligible Emiratis as they entered employment and bringing them under the appropriate social security protection.
The Work Bundle demonstrates a central principle of digital government. The objective is not simply to connect systems, but to connect institutions around the outcome the customer needs.
Moving Data, Not People
GPSSA’s Ma’ashi platform provides the digital foundation for its pension services. Behind it is a broader network connecting more than 44 government and private-sector organizations.
These integrations support the exchange and verification of information used in registration, contribution collection, social security coverage and benefit payments.
The model follows a simple principle: government should ask people for the same information only once.
When verified data already exists within an authorized system, citizens and employers should not need to locate, upload and prove it again. Subject to the necessary legal and data-governance controls, information should move through government so that people can move more easily through the service.
Employment data can indicate whether an Emirati has entered eligible work, falls within GPSSA’s jurisdiction and has completed the required pension registration.
The redesigned journey follows five linked stages: identification, verification, activation, registration and monitoring. Eligible employees can be identified, their information verified, and incomplete cases followed until they are resolved.
Pension coverage therefore becomes part of the employment journey itself.
Less Effort, Wider Coverage
For employers, connected data reduces repeated document requests, manual processing and delays caused by inconsistent information. It also provides clearer visibility of registration and contribution obligations.
For GPSSA, integration supports more targeted compliance. Data can identify possible cases of non-registration, conflicting employment records or delayed contributions, enabling follow-up to focus on cases requiring attention.
For employees, much of this complexity remains invisible. That is part of the model’s value. Government manages the complexity in the background, while the customer experiences one connected journey.
Social security coverage of the relevant private-sector population under GPSSA’s jurisdiction increased from 88% in 2022 to 98% in 2025, reaching comprehensive coverage in June 2026.
Contribution collection rose from 92% in 2023 to 99%. Service digitization increased from 47% to 94%, while customer satisfaction rose from 79% to 91%.
The rise in insured membership partly reflects the expansion of Emirati employment. GPSSA’s administrative achievement was ensuring its systems could identify, register and protect eligible citizens as that workforce grew.
“The growth in the number of insured Emiratis expanded our responsibility to ensure that social security coverage kept pace with the changing labor market,” said Hind Al Suwaidi, Executive Director of the Pensions Sector at GPSSA.
“Through Ma’ashi, the Work Bundle, stronger integration with relevant entities and continuous monitoring, we have improved our ability to identify eligible employees, address potential gaps and provide a more efficient experience for employers and insured members.
“A trusted pension system supports the UAE’s Emiratization priorities by protecting citizens’ long-term rights and strengthening confidence throughout their working lives.”
The Next Bundle:
Having connected employment more closely with social security coverage, GPSSA is exploring how the same life-event model could support the next major transition: retirement.
A Retirement Bundle would bring together the services and guidance a person needs before, during and after leaving employment. Instead of waiting for an employee to retire and submit a pension claim, verified data could identify when that person is approaching eligibility and activate a coordinated journey.
The bundle could include pension projections, verification of eligibility and service records, retirement counselling, completion of missing employment information, streamlined pension processing and connected post-retirement services.
Several building blocks already exist. Wafra provides financial education in budgeting, saving, investment and retirement planning. Balanced Step offers practical financial guidance and debt counselling, while GPSSA’s advisory services help members understand their pension position and make informed decisions.
The next step is to connect these capabilities with other retirement services in one proactive bundle, activated at the right time rather than accessed separately through different channels.
This could allow incomplete records or contribution gaps to be resolved before they delay the first pension payment. Over time, verified employment data could also support more personalized projections and guidance.
The wider lesson is clear. Digital excellence is not achieved by placing an existing process online. It comes from connecting institutions, data and services around the outcome people need.
The Work Bundle connected employment with social security protection. A Retirement Bundle could complete that journey, bringing preparation, advice, eligibility, pension processing and post-retirement support into one experience.
For citizens, it comes down to a simple expectation. Government should be ready at the moments that matter, from the start of working life to the transition into retirement.
About the General Pension and Social Security Authority GPSSA:
The General Pension and Social Security Authority (GPSSA) is a financially and administratively independent federal authority established under Federal Law No. (6) of 1999 to administer and implement pension and social security systems in the United Arab Emirates.
The Authority delivers comprehensive insurance protection for insured individuals, pensioners and their beneficiaries, ensuring the long-term sustainability of the pension ecosystem to guarantee social and financial stability. Driven by its core values of transparency, efficiency, excellence and customer happiness, the GPSSA is committed to providing innovative insurance services aligned with global best practices in retirement planning.
