Thousands Of Expats Have Left The Local Market

According to the latest statistics from the Central Administration of Statistics (CAS), the number of expatriates in the country has decreased from around 2,891,255 in 2018 to 2,520,301 in 2021, implying that around 371,000 foreigners have permanently left the labor market in the last three years.

The results also show that the number of expatriates who got work permits in the government sector declined by almost 11,000 from 107,657 in 2018 to 96,800 in 2021, which can be linked to the Civil Service Commission's execution of the Kuwaitization strategy in 2017. As Kuwait's policy of Kuwaitization continues, this figure is expected to fall even lower.

The decline in the number of workers was not restricted to the public sector; the private sector also saw an 18.4% drop in employment, from 1,531, 000 in 2018 to 1,249,000 in 2021. The CAS statistics also revealed a 115,700 decline in the number of domestic workers, lowering the total number of domestic workers in 2021 to around 591,368 from over 707,000 in 2018.

The COVID-19 crisis has been blamed for a significant drop in the number of domestic employees. Since the outbreak of the global pandemic in 2020, a huge number of domestic workers have returned home, and many will be unable to return in 2021 due to the restriction on flights to Kuwait at the time, as well as new laws that make it difficult to hire foreign workers.

Illegal employees who were in violation of labor and residence regulations were the only section of the labor market that witnessed an increase in numbers over the three-year period from 2018 to 2021. Illegal laborers increased by 51,000 people from 100,560 in 2018 to 151,690 in 2021.

Despite multiple government amnesty offers that allowed this category of people to leave the country without paying any violation fines or to remain by rectifying their legal status, the number of law violators who chose to remain in Kuwait without proper visas or work permits has increased by more than 50%.

The CAS data raises a number of intriguing questions. Due to Kuwaitization policies in the public sector, job losses, or a lack of stable and suitable compensation in the private sector, the number of legal workers in the labor market is declining. However, the number of illegal employees on the market who lack official work permits or visas is growing. So, what's the deal? You pick if it's ineffective policies, ineffective policing, or inept implementation.

Comments Post Comment

Leave a Comment

Submit