KUWAIT: The government received an advisory report from private academic bodies charged with studying the population demographics in Kuwait as part of the executive authority’s directives to implement its work in addressing the Kuwaiti labor market, the large increase in expatriates compared to the number of Kuwaitis, the consequences of that on the poor conditions of public services and infrastructure, as well as the extent to which citizens benefit from these services.

The report included issues that were the focus of the recommendations: a principle to fix the demographic imbalance and improve the quality of expatriate workers while reducing the number of unskilled expat workers in the country. The report also included implementing a quota for every nationality in Kuwait.

According to the report, there are proposals that were sent to the Council of Ministers that deal with the implementation of the quota and setting a percentage for each country so that it does not exceed 25% of the number of Kuwaitis. Determining a period of time for each expatriate to reside in Kuwait can help a lot in getting rid of excess and unnecessary labor for the market.

Meanwhile, the Manpower Authority is reviewing the decision regarding the facilities granted to those who have reached the age of 60 (without university degrees), indicating that any decision issued is subject to evaluation after a period of time in order to know its repercussions on the labor market. The Manpower Authority issued a decision previously that allowed people over sixty (who do not have a college degree) to obtain a work permit by allowing them to move to the private sector.