The statistics of the Labor Market Information System, issued by the Central Administration of Statistics, revealed a boom in the indicators of national and expatriate employment in the private sector during the past four years during which the country witnessed the Covid-19 pandemic, as the number of employment in the housing and food services activities sector increased many fold, while it decreased significantly in many other important sectors, most notably the construction sector, agriculture, forestry, fishing, retail sales, repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles, water supply and sanitation activities, waste management and treatment.
National employment registered in the sector jumped from 1,483 workers in 2018 to 42,663 in 2021, while expatriate workers increased from 92,293 to 788,916 workers, reports a local Arabic daily.
The statistics, a copy of which has been obtained by the newspaper, states that the registered employment in the accommodation and food services activities sector, of which restaurants, cafes and hotels constitute a large proportion, rose insanely with the number reaching 737,803 workers between 2018 and 2021, from just 93,776 to 831,579 workers.
As for the construction sector, the reluctance of registered workers was shown, as their total in 2018 amounted to 190,669 workers, declining to 113,774 workers, which reflected on the labor market, especially in the new residential areas, after those wishing to build, complained of the severe shortage of construction workers in recent times.
The statistics also showed a significant decrease in the employment of the wholesale and retail trade sector and the repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles, from 488,887 workers to 49,790 workers.
The agriculture, forestry and fishing sector witnessed a decrease from 80,212 workers to 52,010 during the past four years, as well as the water supply and sanitation activities, waste management and treatment, which include cleaning companies and registered labor, whose workers also decreased from 44,631 workers to only 4,390.