Scarcity of domestic workers looms post-regulatory changes

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KUWAIT CITY, Jan 13: The intensive campaigns of the tripartite committee formed by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Ministry of Interior, and the Public Authority for Manpower (PAM) to ensure strict compliance with recent decisions specifying the fees for recruiting domestic workers and the requirement to collect such fees through K-Net devices, indicate that the government will rely on Al-Durra Labor Recruitment Company for the recruitment of domestic workers and will be firm against the domestic labor recruitment offices.

However, despite the company’s launch in 2016, it did not keep pace with the domestic labor market as required due to the increasing demand, which raises additional questions about the extent of its readiness to activate its role in the required manner and the speed of recruiting workers, especially after stopping the recruitment of Filipino workers.

Official spokesman of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry Abdullah Al-Haraz reiterated that all domestic labor recruitment offices must have K-Net devices. He warned that the necessary legal measures will be taken against any office without such a device. He clarified the goal is to ensure that only the specified fees are collected as per the regulatory decisions to prevent these offices from increasing the fees. He added the offices proven to have violated the regulations must modify their status, obtain K-Net devices, and adhere to the regulating ministerial decisions and Domestic Workers Law number 68/2015; urging the offices to comply with the specified fees. He explained the decision issued by the Commerce Ministry — number 2/2024 — is an amendment to the decision issued in 2022, which set the fees for recruiting domestic workers. He pointed out that the campaigns launched recently aim to ensure the presence of K-Net devices in domestic labor recruitment offices; and if they are not available, the citizen must submit a complaint to the competent authorities to take the necessary measures.

Specialists in domestic labor affairs Bassam Al-Shammari affirmed that there will be a scarcity of requests for domestic workers and the difficulty of providing them in light of the recent decisions. He told the daily that several factors could harm the domestic labor market; most notably the recent decision of the Ministry of Commerce, the lack of workers, and the decision of Sri Lankan domestic labor companies and many labor recruitment offices to suspend the recruitment process. He pointed out that the local market needs around 5,000 to 6,000 female workers per month; indicating the owners of domestic labor recruitment offices will face a problem in continuing to recruit these numbers in light of the current conditions. He added the total number of domestic workers in the country now stands at 811,000 420,000 of whom are female. He said the main problem with female domestic workers is that the Kuwaiti labor market needs more female domestic workers due to the opening of new residential areas and urban expansion. He disclosed the owners of domestic labor recruitment offices are waiting for the new government formation to present their ideas and suggestions in a way that protects the labor market, owners of domestic labor recruitment offices, and companies in the private sector.

By Fares Al-Abdan
Al-Seyassah/Arab Times Staff

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