False employment is rampant in Kuwait labour market: Al-Kandari – ‘13 firms, over 500 employees referred to Public Prosecution’

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KUWAIT CITY, Aug 24: Confirmation by the State Minister for Cabinet Affairs and Acting Minister of Information Sheikh Mohammad Al-Abdullah Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah of the fact that at least 13 companies and more than 500 employees were referred to the Public Prosecution over cases of false employment and connivance to obtain labor support has stirred up waves of reactions from the public.

And more so, the statistics issued by the Public Authority for Civil Information (PACI) that the number of Kuwaitis working in the private sector reached 89,727, and those in the public sector reached 345,106 while 14,323 are unemployed as of June 2017 had several citizens and activists expressing frustration over the spread of false employment among Kuwaiti youths in the private sector with the intention of collecting national labor support fraudulently.

In interviews conducted by Al-Seyassah daily, these citizens and activists stressed the need to hold the companies, which are implicated in such a practice, accountable by deleting their records from the government systems in order to deter others who are engaged in this scandalous practice.

They said the youths should be enrolled in training courses to qualify them to work in the private sectors so that they do not fall prey to such illicit unethical practices to attain labor support undeservedly.

Motivated

They all agreed that the youths should be motivated to genuinely work and utilize their skills and abilities from their young age.

Ahmad Al-Kandari lamented that false employment has become rampant in the Kuwaiti labor market, a matter which calls for drastic sweeping measures to amend the laws in the private sector as well as issue harsh punishments for the companies that are implicated in the practice.

Abdulmohsen Al-Hassan revealed about a category of lazy youths who are used to the habit of getting paid while sitting in the comfort of their homes.

He stressed the need to spread awareness among the youths so that they take up responsibility, adding that they should be encouraged to work.

Heba Al-Saad said, “Thousands of youths have registered in companies for show only so that those companies are not obliged to employ national labor force”.

She urged concerned authorities to devise a mechanism for detecting whether or not the labor support is reaching the deserved beneficiaries, saying she wonders why no company has been deleted from the government records despite all the evidences.

Abu Bader stressed that majority of youths who take up such false employment are actually victims because the state did not enroll them in training programs that can qualify them to work in the private sector.

He indicated about certain companies that blackmail some the youths and take a specific percent of the money that the youths obtain from the labor support allowance.

Abu Bader said it is high time for cancelling the so-called support for the national labor force that are working in the private sector when there are numerous negative aspects in this program.

Professor of Psychology at Kuwait University Dr Khader Al-Baroun said a youth who is accustomed to getting everything easily from the state will naturally hate going to work and will prefer sitting in cafes as long as they find an escape through “false employment” for labor support.

By Najeh Bilal

Al-Seyassah Staff

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