Kuwaiti labour reform in full steam

Around 23,000 Kuwaitis enter the labour force every year. Historically, close to 80 per cent of those have entered the public sector, favouring the job security it provides, lower working hours and higher entry-level compensation.

This has exacerbated the strain on government expenditures, with the wage and compensations bill representing more than 50 per cent of the total budget in the 2016/17 fiscal year.

However, many Kuwaitis stated that they were proud to work in any job in their homeland even in filling gasoline at a petrol station.

Abdulaziz Al Jaddi, a volunteer with the Al Salam Association for Humanitarian Action said, “We Kuwaitis passed through crises and showed how dependable and credible we are. To those who question Kuwaitis’ attitude to work, I say Kuwaitis are dependable and the brutal invasion of Kuwait was a testimony to that. And now amid the COVID-19 crisis, Kuwaitis had a great role in the quarantine facilities, worked in co-operative societies and elsewhere. Under Kuwaitisation, Kuwaitis are able to work in every profession,” he told Al Anba newspaper.

Shawarma guys or Juice shop assistants are not typical career choices for young Kuwaitis, but many of them have showed they have an appetite for success in marginal industries, amid increasingly loud cries to address the demographic imbalance in Kuwait.