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Over 100K likely affected by Kuwait's plan to terminate expats in gov't sector

23% of public sector employees are expatriates: PACI

By Passant Hisham and Nebal Snan

KUWAIT: As part of its ongoing Kuwaitization efforts, the Civil Service Commission (CSC) announced that the contracts of expatriates in the public sector will not be renewed after March 31, 2025. The policy is intended to increase local employment and reduce the country’s dependence on foreign labor. While exceptions will be made for children of Kuwaiti women and expatriates in roles where qualified Kuwaitis are not available, this transition is set to impact many government ministries and institutions.

According to statistics from the Public Authority for Civil Information (PACI), as of the end of December 2024, 120,502 non-Kuwaitis work in the government sector, in comparison to 401,215 Kuwaitis. This means that 23 percent of public sector employees are expatriates.

A few ministries and institutions in Kuwait employ the bulk of these expatriates, and these are the sectors that will likely be most affected by the new rule. The Ministry of Health currently employs the highest number of expatriates at 38,829 workers. The Ministry of Education follows closely with 27,012 expatriates, and the Ministry of Defense with 15,944 non-Kuwaitis. Two other ministries, the Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of Awqaf & Islamic Affairs, employ nearly 11,500 non-Kuwaitis.

Together, the five ministries directly employ 77.3 percent of non-Kuwaitis working in the public sector. The remaining work in other major government institutions. Kuwait Airways, Kuwait University, Kuwait Oil Company (KOC), and Kuwait National Guard employ nearly seven percent of the expat workforce in the public sector. For instance, 4,114 non-Kuwaitis work at Kuwait Airways, while 1,553 work at Kuwait University. KOC and the National Guard employ 1,448 and 1,100 non-Kuwaitis, respectively.

Kuwaitization rates

Kuwaitization, which refers to the government’s policy of prioritizing Kuwaiti citizens for job opportunities, has been a top government priority for nearly a decade. In the public sector, the Kuwaitization policy aims to ensure that the workforce consists entirely of Kuwaiti citizens. This includes government departments and state-run organizations, where efforts are made to replace expatriates with qualified Kuwaitis in all roles. There are several government entities which achieved high rates of Kuwaitization, almost exclusively hiring Kuwaitis.

The Public Authority for Industry, for example, only employs 14 expats, making up 1.6 percent of its total workforce. Out of more than 7,500 employees at the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, only 60 are expats, which puts them at 0.8 percent of the directorate’s employees.

On the other hand, some entities rely overwhelmingly on foreign labor. For instance, Kuwait Flour Mills & Bakeries Company employees are 96.7 percent expatriates. Similarly, 78.6 percent of Kuwait Airways employees are not Kuwaiti.

Non-Kuwaitis also have strong representation in critical sectors, such as education, research, and healthcare. At the Ministry of Health, 58.7 percent of employees are expatriates. At Kuwait University and the Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research, expatriates make up 24 and 47 percent of the workforce, respectively.

In a previous interview with Kuwait Times, Saqr Al-Ghelani, a Kuwaiti HR professional, described the Kuwaitization initiative as a "noble endeavor" but noted several challenges in its current implementation. He explained that certain jobs, especially physically demanding roles, remain unfilled by Kuwaitis due to low pay and the availability of better educational opportunities in other fields. Additionally, he argued that highly skilled positions require a diverse, multicultural work experience, which many Kuwaitis lack, as they often restrict their professional experience to Kuwait. The expert recommended a long-term, gradual approach to Kuwaitization, spanning five to 10 years, and emphasized the importance of training programs for Kuwaitis before expatriates leave.

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