7 March 2016, Gulf Digital News
Expatriate workers made up 83 per cent of the workforce in Kuwait by the end of 2015, to top 2.138 million. Foreigners working as maidservants and other domestic helpers represented more than the quarter of the expatriate communities in the country, standing at 26.4%.
A report surveying the labour market trends revealed that 26% of expats are classified as “labourers” while 14.6% work as drivers, mechanics and other menial professions. A report surveying the labour market trends revealed that the number of Kuwaiti employees stood at 435,000 as per December 31, making up 17% of the overall workforce which stands at 2.574 million.
According to the survey, 37% of active Kuwaitis work in offices in public and private sectors, 23% hold medium technical jobs and 15% work in the military, security, civil defence and other fields.
A total of 9500 Kuwaitis hold the position of general managers, making up 2.2% of the overall number of Kuwaitis working in the public and private sectors. A total of 389,000 Kuwaiti nationals are outside the labour market, while 92,300 citizens are retired.
The striking majority of expatriate workers are employed in families, retail businesses and garages, in addition to the construction sector.