Companies in Kuwait who have hired Bhutanese workers have expressed their utmost satisfaction with their skills and ability, as well as their proficiency in English language. Many recruitment offices are now expressing a preference for hiring workers from Bhutan for their dedication and proficiency in work.
Bhutan, a small land-locked country between India and China, has only recently begun sending workers abroad as employees of companies on group contract. Education level in Bhutan is very high and the lowest level of education you can find among Bhutanes is the high school diploma. As one of the fastest growing economies in the region, the Bhutanese government is keen to send its youth abroad so that they can gain experience and in future return to their homeland so they can contribute to the development of the country.
Domestic labor recruitment offices in Kuwait, eager to cater to the racist preferences of some households in Kuwait for ‘fair-skinned’ domestic helpers, will probably be disappointed to learn that though Bhutanese are fair-skinned, their government strictly forbids its citizens to work as domestic maids or drivers abroad.
The Ministry of Labor in the Kingdom of Bhutan coordinates with companies in the Gulf countries with regard to any labor contract involving Bhutanese nationals. For its part, the Bhutanese government facilitates all procedures for completing the sending of its workers abroad. Recruitment companies will have to send a representative to the country and arrange to hold employment interviews there.
Speaking about Bhutanese workers, the country’s ambassador in Kuwait, H.E. Tshering Gyaltshen Penjor, said that the number of Bhutanese labor in Kuwait is around 3,000 and that most of them are graduates working in companies.
He explained that some of these graduates join the Al-Shaya Academy in Bhutan to take a training course, before they come to work in Kuwait, pointing out that the largest number of them work in Al-Shaya companies inside Kuwait and some in large hotels and in other companies.
He pointed out that the recruitment of any specialized labor from Bhutan is through communication with the embassy, which in turn communicates with the Bhutanese Ministry of Labor to study the application, indicating that salaries depend on the nature of work and is at an average of KD250 per month.
He added that there has been interest from the Kuwait side to recruit medical workers from Bhutan and the matter is being discussed by the two sides.
