A MAJOR LABOR SHORTAGE IS FORESEEN AFTER 41,200 DOMESTIC WORKERS RESIGNED

  • 25/04/2022

Kuwait City: The Interior and Defense Committee of the National Assembly approved a motion filed by a member of parliament in mid-April to facilitate the granting of visas for new domestic workers. According to the Economist Intelligence Unit, Kuwait is likely to resume the recruitment of domestic workers, as the sector – and the overall economy – faces a labour shortage, with the expectation that the government will liberalise the domestic labour market while continuing efforts to address the long-term demographic imbalance. 


In 2021, about 41,200 domestic workers left Kuwait, which reflects a broader trend that has been greatly exacerbated by the Covid 19 pandemic – the departure of expatriates since the beginning of ‘Corona’ in early 2020, which caused a severe economic recession, reduced job opportunities in the private sector, and revealed the lack of financial sustainability to absorb more citizens in the overcrowded public sector, while the private sector depends on expatriate workers, prompting the government to speed up the Kuwaitization process. The Economist Intelligence stated that despite the improvement in the financial situation, due to the rise in oil prices, the government continued to implement nationalization policies, adding, “Since it is unlikely that Kuwaiti citizens will carry out household chores, this sector suffers from a significant labor shortage.”

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