The Civil Service Commission, in coordination with the Public Authority for Manpower, is implementing a plan to develop a mechanism to attract citizens to work in the private sector and enhance job security as a key era for those wishing to be appointed to companies and various sectors away from the government job.
A local Arabic daily has learned, based on the recommendation of the Council of Ministers, the concerned government agencies are seeking to raise the percentage of Kuwaitis in the private sector to more than 5%, as the number of national workers in the sector is 72.2 thousand citizens out of one million and 434,000 workers.
The authorities have developed recent scenarios to support national employment in the “private”, starting with increasing support, whether for university graduates or other certificate holders, so that the salary in the sector is close to or equal to what the government employee receives.
A senior government source told the daily what is more important than increasing the support for the workforce, which is currently studying, is working to achieve job security, as this will be by setting the terms of Kuwaiti contracts in private sector companies of up to 5 years.
The source added that the goal of the steps that will be announced soon, is to motivate citizens to work in the private sector by providing financial support and achieving the required security and pointed out that the plan is still under study and may include other stimulating mechanisms, and its main features will appear soon.
According to recent labor market data, the private sector witnessed a decrease in the number of Kuwaitis compared to the year 2021 and the previous year, with a total of 759 citizens leaving their jobs.
The data indicated that 18,573 job-seekers have been registered with the Manpower Authority for more than 6 months, and are not currently working, receiving a retirement pension, and not registered in an educational institution.
As for those registered during 2022, the total numbers submitted to the “manpower” systems amounted to 2,523 citizens, of whom 1,645 citizens registered their desires to obtain jobs in the private sector, representing 65.2% of the total number of those wishing to obtain jobs.
Last year, 10,442 Kuwaitis showed their desire to work in the private sector, compared to 15,174 citizens who expressed their desires to work in the government sector.