Kuwait: Expats will not be appointed as advisers in government sector

Kuwait City: The Civil Service Commission (CSB) announced that adviser jobs are not to be appointed to expats in the public sector, unless there are no Kuwaitis who meet the requirements for the position, local media reported.

The announcement came after a proposal was presented by MP Adel Al Damkhi, that suggested that the appointing advisers in the public sector, whether it be in salary or contract type (temporary or part-time), be limited to Kuwaitis. In addition, he proposed that any job opening should be first advertised in the local newspaper. Then before advertising the jobs in the international newspapers, there needs to be proof that there are no Kuwaiti applicants that can fulfill the job.

According to Law No 19 of 2,000, it is mandatory to advertise jobs in local newspapers, whether for consultants or fixed jobs, which is meant to support and encourage nationals to work in the public sector.

In response, the Civil Service Commission said that Article 1 of the Civil Service Law stipulates that a person appointed to a position must be Kuwaiti. Non-Kuwaitis should be hired only after it is proven that there are no Kuwaitis that are fit to do the job.

In addition, the central employment system has a database of all Kuwaitis wishing to enter the public sector. The database lists their qualifications, specializations and experience, which notifies the CSB if there is a Kuwaiti that meets the conditions of a job, therefore notifying the employer that there is no need to hire a non-Kuwaiti as there is a Kuwait able to do the job.

Expats in public sector

While Kuwaitis make up 1.4 million of the country’s four million population, around 90 per cent of Kuwaiti citizens work in the public sector. Although in December 2019, there were around 120,000 expats working in governmental positions, that number has dropped as there have been massive layoffs in recent months.

This is part of a governmental policy known as Kuwaitisation, which aims at shifting the workforce balance so that the majority of jobs are done by Kuwaitis.

According to a recent report by the Civil Service Commission, around 79 per cent of all employees working in the public sector are Kuwaitis, bringing them to a total of 297,335. As for expats, they make up 21 per cent of the workforce as there are a total of 34,347 expats working in the public sector.

Last month, the Civil Service Commission announced that since 2017, 13 out of the 16 government agencies have achieved Kuwaitisation.

Back in August, the government announced that it will dismiss 50 per cent of expats working in the public sector. Then a few weeks later, around 1,183 job contacts for expats working across 48 governmental agencies were cancelled.

In May, the Ministry of State of Municipal Affairs announced it was working on a plan to replace all expats working in the ministry with Kuwaitis.

Back in 2018, around 50,000 expats working in governmental agencies were laid off.