KUWAIT: Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) affirmed Tuesday its reliance on national cadres and its keenness to recruit them in the oil sector through a plan to employ fresh graduates. KOC added that such action is part of its contribution to creating job opportunities for Kuwaiti new graduates and meeting their operational needs, which is in line with its strategic goals. The remarks came in a press statement reacting to comments circulated in social media and some newspapers regarding a tender for the recruitment of 500 expatriates to work in the production centers in the company’s various sites.

KOC indicated that it succeeded, for many years, on maintaining 100 percent of the national employment in production work centers. The company also stated that they employed more than 500 Kuwaitis who hold a diploma, in the past fiscal year, in the production and operations departments, confirming that they will continue this approach for the current year and the coming years. KOC explained that such contract is a renewal of previous contracts that are used only in emergency cases, indicating that no workers were called upon in previous contracts because there was no need.

The company noted that this tender is among several tenders submitted to the Central Tenders Committee before the coronavirus pandemic, affirming they were not formally approved, stressing these contracts are among the current and upcoming contracts that have been reviewed and were suspended. KOC also confirmed that it, like its associate companies in the oil sector, and based on the directives of the Kuwait Petroleum Corporation, is currently reviewing all contracts to reduce the percentage of non-Kuwaiti workers. —KUNA