Kuwait City: Director General of the Public Authority for Manpower, Ahmed Al Moussa, announced a ban on transferring government workers to the private sector, local media reported.
The Public Authority for Manpower has also decided to enforce restrictions on the transfer of dependent visas to work visas, for those working in the private sector.
Both decisions have been recommended by the Minister of Social and Economic Affairs, Maryam Al Aqeel.
Although government sector employees are barred from transferring over to the private sector, four groups of people are exempt from the transfer ban: Kuwaiti women’s husbands and children, wives of Kuwaitis, Palestinians with travel documents and those in specialized technical professions, like doctors, nurses and other technical fields.
In regards to transferring one’s residency from a dependent visa to a work visa, Al Moussa pointed out that only four groups of people are eligible: husbands and children of Kuwaiti women, those born in Kuwait, Palestinians with travel documents and those that have a secondary degree diploma from a Kuwaiti educational establishment.
There are three types of residency visas in Kuwait: work visa, domestic visa and dependent visa. The dependent visa allows expats residing in Kuwait to sponsor their family members, although various restrictions apply.
Prior to this decision, it was possible for an expat to switch their residency from a dependent visa to a work visa. In order to do so, the person must hold a dependent visa for a minimum of one year before applying for a work visa from the Ministry of Social and Economic Affairs.
As for transferring private sector workers to the government, Al Moussa explained that employees should comply with procedures followed by the Public Authority for Manpower and the Civil Service Commission.
Government sector employees
The decision to ban transferring government employees to the private sector comes a few weeks after the government announced that it will dismiss 50 per cent of expats working in the public sector.
As of December 2019, there are 120,000 expats, out of the 3 million residing in Kuwait, working in the public sector. Back in 2018, around 50,000 expats working in governmental agencies were laid off.
Reducing the number of expats working in the public sector is part of a governmental policy known as Kuwaitisation, which aims to shift the workforce balance so that the majority of jobs are done by Kuwaitis.
Majority of expats work in the private sector, as only 10 per cent of the 1.4 million Kuwaiti population works in the public sector.
Residency transfers
Various restrictions have been put in place to limit the transfer of residencies. These restrictions coincide with the government’s effort to address the demographic imbalance.
Last week, the Ministry of Interior issued instructions banning the conversion of all types of visit visas to residency permits.
According to Kuwaiti labour law, anybody holding a visit visa can stay up to 30 days in the country.
Back in March, the Ministry of Interior announced that all visit visas can be extended for two months, given the COVID-19 crisis
