Scarcity of Asian workers in Kuwait led to hike in cost

The current crisis related to Filipino labor force has created scarcity in availability of domestic workers and led to hike in the relevant costs, which will soon reach KD 2,000. This happened when Manila joined Indonesia and India in banning its citizens from working in Kuwait.

The Philippines has demanded Kuwait to ensure its labor force is treated equally as Kuwaitis “in everything in accordance to the international laws”.

Several local domestic labor bureaus affirmed that the country’s domestic labor sector is experiencing lack of supply of Asian domestic workers after the Philippines banned sending its labor force to Kuwait like Sri Lanka did in the past.

This situation adds to the ongoing issue of financial guarantee imposed by India for the recruitment of its domestic workers, after it also banned recruitment of its domestic workers through the current standard procedures.

The labor bureaus warned that, “The crisis will intensify and the recruitment cost will further increase in the coming period, especially during certain occasions such as the holy month of Ramadan”.

Bloggers have been circulating advertisements on social media concerning availability of Asian domestic workers at a cost of KD 1,800.

However, owners of domestic labor bureaus affirm that, “Currently there is no new supply of domestic workers from Sri Lanka; but the recruitment of a number of domestic workers can be expected in the coming few weeks”.

They indicated that majority of the domestic workers are African nationals currently, especially from the Ivory Coast, Cameroon and Guinea, revealing that the cost of their recruitment is about KD 850.

Meanwhile, the Durra Company for Domestic Labor Recruitment has affirmed that it will continue to work on providing domestic workers from Sri Lanka, revealing that a number of them will enter the domestic labor market soon due to the high demand for their services.

It indicated that there is a growing demand for domestic workers who are married couples and can work in the same house, as well as for chefs from India and Sri Lanka, male domestic workers from India, and drivers from India and Bangladesh.

In addition, an official from the company revealed that Durra Company will next week start working on recruiting domestic workers from Burkina Faso at a cost of KD 700. He clarified that the recruitment cost is high because of the high cost of plane tickets from several countries in the African continent.

The official explained that recruiting an experienced Sri Lankan cook costs KD 580 with monthly salary ranging from KD 120 to KD 160. The cost of recruiting an inexperienced chef from India is KD 180 with a minimum monthly salary of KD 100. The cost for recruitment of a domestic worker from India is KD 180 with monthly salary starting from KD 80. The cost for recruitment of an experienced driver from either India or Bangladesh is KD 240 with a monthly salary starting from KD 140