8,800 Kuwaitis working in private sector; Exhibition to provide 2,000 jobs

Arab Times Online - 3/5/2006

Up to 8,800 citizens had been employed in the private sector up to the end of 2005 compared to only 1,100 in the year 2000, said the Secretary General of the Manpower Restructuring Program Dr. Waleed Al-Wuhaib. Speaking to a press conference on the occasion of the third exhibition for job opportunities to be held on May 6 and attended by 40 company representatives, he said the program’s five-year plan aimed at employing 35, 000 citizens at a rate of 7,000 per year, but noted that this was exceeded to 8,800 in the first year alone.

Furthermore, he said the first job exhibition provided 1,000 opportunities in the private sector, noting that this number was brought up to 1,500 in the second and over 2,000 in this coming exhibition. Al-Wuhaib called upon the private sector to compete over the employment of Kuwaiti youth, as they currently account for only 20 percent of the Kuwaiti labor market with one citizen to every 10 opting to work in the private sector at present. The director general said the exhibition would also result in the compiling of an updated database of those searching for jobs and job openings, thus providing ready information for research, as well as for companies seeking employees of a certain profile.

Meanwhile, Deputy Director General of “Tawteen” employment company Muna Al-Abdulrazzaq said that the company employed 700 citizens over the past 10 months out of 1,000 jobs it had pledged to provide over a period of 18 months, She also said 320 job opportunities would be made available at the exhibition. As for MTC’s Senior Human Resources Director Naqeeb Ameen, he said that through its sponsorship of the exhibition, the company hoped to help youth in obtaining jobs with the private sector and acquaint them with the benefits they would enjoy as a result. For his part, Kuwait Finance House Human Resources Director Ahmad Al-Houqal said the institution provided training courses extending six months for new employees, but called for reforming curricula so as to build leadership qualities in graduates.