Kuwaitization To Persist Despite Kuwaitis Reluctance To Enter Certain Jobs

Nine government agencies affiliated with the Ministry of Finance have succeeded in employing about 184 Kuwaiti citizens since the start of the Kuwaitization policy by the Civil Service Commission (CSC), and have 563 job vacancies currently, according to a recent statistic. Those agencies have also terminated the services of 87 expatriates and offered the positions to Kuwaiti citizens, reports Al Anba daily.

However, many government agencies acknowledge the difficulty in appointing Kuwaiti citizens due to their reluctance to take up such jobs because of low salaries or the position does not meet their expectations.  Nevertheless, government agencies will work to raise the numbers of Kuwaitis and lay off as many expatriates as possible in line with the instructions of the Cabinet and CSC in this regard.

These governmental authorities justified the increase in the number of job vacancies for years due to the decrease in the monthly salary determined in accordance with the internal regulations for personnel affairs. Consequently, Kuwaiti citizens are hesitant to take up those jobs, despite more than 34 advertisements posted by these agencies in less than a year. These agencies include the Public Institution for Social Security which has 180 job vacancies.

On the other hand, there are entities that recorded the highest rate of Kuwaitinization, such as the Central Bank of Kuwait, which succeeded in registering the highest rate of Kuwaitis in history to reach 91.7 percent. It also succeeded in reducing the number of expatriate employees to below 2.7 percent. During the current fiscal year, it employed about 97 Kuwaiti citizens.

The Ministry of Finance is committed to applying the Kuwaitization policy in accordance with the CSC plan, and has terminated the services of employees from several job fields, and sent ten warnings to non-Kuwaiti employees to urge them to complete their end-of service procedures.

In June, some 135 expatriates or 33 per cent of the total foreign workers at the Kuwaiti housing agency will have their contracts terminated by September as part of a plan to “Kuwaitize” employment there in one year.

Minister of State for Housing Affairs and Minister of Public Works, Rana Al Faris, said that a three-phase plan to replace foreign employees with Kuwaitis at the Public Authority for Housing Welfare will take one year, with each phase to see the termination of the services of 33 per cent of the agency’s total foreign labor of 398 employees.

On the other hand, the Federation of Exchange Companies is now expected to approach Public Authority for Manpower (PAM) through an official letter explaining the challenges they face in meeting the specified employment ratios. The Federation will reportedly clarify to PAM that the low salaries and work shifts of exchange companies will not be attractive to Kuwaiti nationals. Moreover, increasing salaries or reducing work shifts to accommodate citizens is not considered a viable option for exchange companies, as it could threaten their ability to continue operations and would also reflect poorly on Kuwait’s business and investment environment.

 

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