Public-sector companies and institutions have fired hundreds of staff that participated or are believed to have participated in protests and strikes. Workers at the Bahrain Petroleum Company (Bapco) and the Khalifa Sea Port, operated by Denmark's APM Terminals, have been sacked, as have employees at Aluminium Bahrain (Alba), Gulf Air (around 40) and taxi companies. Sackings also included 200 athletes, including four members of Bahrain's national football team who were fired and banned from international games because they were deemed to be "against the government", according to a sports official who spoke to Associated Press. One of the footballers, Al'a Hubail, had attended a protest as a volunteer nurse, being a trained paramedic, according to The Times, a UK-based newspaper. The University of Bahrain suspended a college dean, seven teachers and 25 administrators that it said had been involved in vandalism during the unrest; it also expelled 62 students and cancelled the scholarships of five PhD students. Several overseas students have also had their scholarships rescinded after participating in protests. The Bahraini government has begun to advertise in the UK for nurses after 30 doctors and nurses were sacked, and around 150 more are under investigation. The government has also been recruiting in Pakistan for the security forces, according to Pakistani recruitment websites and newspapers. The sackings are likely to increase Bahrain's dependence on foreign workers. Anecdotal evidence suggests some private companies are already replacing fired Bahraini staff with expatriates.

In 2006 Bahrain legalised strikes and officials expressed pride in having relatively advanced laws on labour and trade unions. Under the law, it is possible for a court to require firms to reinstate workers that were fired simply for striking. However, later in 2006, a prime ministerial decree banned strikes in strategic sectors (including airports, seaports, hospitals and health centres, educational establishments, electricity, bakeries, oil and gas) in a move that was criticised by trade unions. The country has a long tradition of trade union activism, dating back to the 1930s when workers at Bapco began to organise. The International Labour Organisation (ILO) reported that several members of the board of the General Federation of Trade Unions had been fired by the government, even though, it said, the federation had encouraged workers to voluntarily return to work. The ILO called the situation "extremely alarming". The president, vice-president and four other members of the Teachers' Association have been arrested, and the government has dismissed the board of the Bahrain Medical Society.