Kuwait plans to replace expats in administrative roles with locals – report

Kuwait is reportedly working on plans to limit all administrative jobs in the country’s private sector to Kuwaitis.

Kuwait Times cited Fauzi Al-Majdali, secretary general of the Manpower and Government Restructuring Programme, as confirming the move.

He said Kuwaitising all administrative jobs in the private sector was part of a five-year plan.

Some 166 administrative job categories are currently held by 84,573 expats, the official added.

No further details of the plan’s implementation were disclosed, according to the publication.

MPs in the country’s National Assembly parliament have been particularly vocal about limiting foreign workers, said to account for as much as 70 per cent of the populace.

In recent months there have been calls to ban expats from driving and force them to pay more for medical care.

Read: Kuwait MP calls for expat driving ban

A March study by the Ministry of State for National Assembly Affairs reportedly called for deporting marginal labourers and setting a timetable to stop the hiring of expats in the private sector to rebalance the population.

Read: Kuwait study calls for deporting of labourers, deadline for expat hiring