Expatriates make up 78% of GCC’s 24.6 million workers

Dubai: Expatriates make up over 78 per cent of the Gulf Cooperation Council’s workforce, according to figures disclosed at a high-level labor meeting in Kuwait. 

Speaking at the opening of the 11th meeting of GCC labor undersecretaries, Marzouq Al Otaibi, acting director general of Kuwait’s Public Authority for Manpower, reaffirmed the bloc’s commitment to advancing joint labor strategies and tackling shared challenges. The agenda, he said, included programs for private-sector employment, nationalization, social protection, labor development, and women’s participation in the workforce.

The GCC Assistant Secretary General for Economic and Development Affairs, Khaled Al Sunaidi, described labor policy as a cornerstone of sustainable growth. 

He said the meeting aimed to harmonize labor regulations, improve work environments, and strengthen the Gulf’s competitiveness at regional and global levels.

Al Sunaidi revealed that the GCC labor market employed 24.6 million people as of the second quarter of 2024, including 19 million expatriates. He urged governments to maintain a balance between hiring nationals and benefiting from skilled foreign labor, warning that global economic shifts demand continued cooperation.

He also highlighted the pressures of digital transformation, noting that studies predict nearly half of traditional jobs could be disrupted within 20 years due to the Fourth Industrial Revolution. That, he said, requires Gulf economies to accelerate workforce training and adapt education systems to ensure resilience.

The one-day gathering, hosted by Kuwait, is the latest in a series of GCC meetings aimed at building a unified labor vision.