Expats in Kuwait aged over 50 will be forced to leave the country under a new measure announced to reduce the number of foreign workers, Arabic daily Al Anba reported.
The age limit would apply to people working for the Kuwaiti government and in professions where vacancies can be filled by Kuwaitis.
It would be implemented from March 1 and cover all nationalities, a government source reportedly said. [Source]
Based on the wording of the article this doesn’t seem like a proposal but instead something that has already gotten an approval. Damn.
But, keep in mind Arabian Business aren’t really a reliable source and have a habit of making shit up. I mean they mention an Al Anba report in their article yet link to Arab Times…
56 replies on “Kuwait to ban expats aged over 50”
Kinda sounds like one of those whataspp rumors.
No, This is based on a proposal of 12 points to solve Kuwait publication issues, it was published in Arabic also in Al-Rai newspaper.
That’s idiotic if true, younger people are competing with more of the jobs that young Kuwaitis need to fill anyway
It was published in local news papers…
Oh wait…
“The age limit would apply to people working for the Kuwaiti government and in professions where vacancies can be filled by Kuwaitis.”
This has been ongoing for a while. I know people who were forced to leave government jobs from like… 2007. I don’t think it means private companies can no longer hire 50+ year olds because if so say goodbye to the management of every Kuwaiti company
How about expanding the country instead of losing experienced people.
Hard to expand the country since other countries around Kuwait would object.
LMAO! Too funny!!
Divide and rule. An oldest trick in the books. Create differences among the people. Make them apparent. People keep fighting with each other and the rulers keep ruling.
It is no secret that along with few other organizations, the Kuwaiti news media detests expats.
that’s really not new, i remember back in 2000 when we wanted to get our maid back she was over 50, mom wanted her to stay with us as shes like family to us, they refused to give her a visa, citing some rule about age limit.
Maids below age 20 and above age 50 have not been given visas for a long time.
dear.sir
please can you inform me of Kuwait as a employee
visa age condition because now i m 20 and A
Accountant so you will please inform me correct
visas schedule :& who is the mean of visa 18/19/20
or any other visas you please see on focus:
Thank you
There will always be wasta, I was told anyone over 70 can’t work in Kuwait but that didn’t stop the old American lady aged way over 70 who is the head of contracts (making money) for ITT/Vectrus, she’s still going strong.
I-International
T-Thugs &
T-Thieves
This is not true… Be assured people, it’s just a rumor.
hope this true for most non specialist jobs, doctors and professors are experiences needed in kuwait but the others aren’t doing Kuwait any good
So teachers, experienced financial managers, project managers, traffic specialists, experienced middle management, project infrastructure specialists, human resource specialists, professional scientists, civil engineers, city planning experts and many others…all of these are doing Kuwait no good?
Think again
No they’re not, since Kuwait spends 100s of thousands on sending their brightest and most promising students to go study abroad on scholarships only to come back and be put into dead end government “filler” jobs because all the good positions are taken by expats. Listen, all countries have rules and regulations for giving working visas, i studied in the UK, and to get a working visa for the UK for non-eu cotizens you would only ne eligible if you were applying to work in a “specialist” profession i.e neurosursurgeon, senior engineer etc and even if that was the case the company still needed to provide evidence that it could not source someone for the same job within the EU, and even after that, the company would need to pay an annual fee for highering a non-eu worker.
I think this law is ridiculous because its discriminating on the grounds of age which is ridiculous. I am a kuwaiti working for a private company, i have studied both my bachelors and masters and interned for 2 yrs abroad, and guess what, im the only kuwaiti in my whole department. I am resented by my peers because they think i am hired to satisfy some government quota. Ur worked harder than any of ur other peers and ur scrutinized more because they assume you don’t want to work, that’s why other kuwaitis in my position can’t last for more than a year, they make it impossible for you. I say bring the same laws they have in the EU. We are a tiny country with a hugely educated local workforce that are looking for jobs but cant find any, they have a choice of sitting at a dead end govvernment desk job or starting their own business. While private companies hire cheap wage expats to do the work kuwaitis are more than qualified and eager to work.
Don’t give me that “kuwaitis don’t want to work” bullshit. After i came back from my studies it took me two damn years to land a decent job, and this is someone with an MBA and 4 years of working experience.
Please ponder on the fact that for the new Green fuel project you want to bring 60k+ expats..
If this project was in pipeline for years together, why wasn’t skill development for Kuwaitis done in parallel..
Kuwait wants to bring fresh talent to built the country only to dump them once the task is over..
World over this is called as ingratitude..
Someone is lamenting on stressed healthcare.. ever wonder how much an expat is spending to educate the kids in private schools or the rent that has skyrocketed apparently to compensate the falling oil prices….
Hello S,
Yes, I do think the present situation is doing grave injustice to ambitious Kuwaitis like yourself that can meaningfully contribute to the corporate environment.
However, how will terminating the contracts of all government employees over age 50 solve this problem?
You will have a large number of foreigners either obtaining residence permits illegally or ready to work for unreasonably low pay for the purpose of staying with their families. Few will get up and leave.
Being a local, why don’t you suggest your idea of the EU work visa criteria to your parliamentarians? Also, let them know the rights awarded to employees working in the EU, few of which are available in Kuwait. You cannot have one without the other.
On a side note, I do have a bone to pick with my Kuwait peers who earn the same salary but get a huge bonus each month due to their allowances. Perhaps this too, is the reason you’re facing some resentment?
@Jotaro: Are you an expat? What do you do in Kuwait? Just curious.
Just another tactic to deal with the crisis – while explicitly not dealing with the crisis.
If they think the replacements will be even half as productive or logical, other than the regular gahva, chai and ciggarette there is no work that is given importance, work timings whats that? …. would love to see how this is going to damage the economy
Wow, way to stereotype, douchebag.
According to the law and to-date:
Expat employees working in different fields in Kuwait are required by law to retire at the age of 60 (They want to reduce it to 50).
In some fields, however, the age limit is 65.
Dont worry about damaging the economy.. for every dinar wasted during working hours shooting the breeze and sipping coffee, the government will compensate with 10 from the oil reserves. Getting rid of experienced older expats will not stop the work from happening in the ministries.They know that in the ministries or in government offices there will always be the lower level junior expat mules to do all the work and pass on the finished product to them for their all mighty signature. 12 signatures in 8 hours and the work day is done.
I think its about the cost of healthcare. People over 50 tend to have more health issues costing a lot of money in the aggregate, given that its free to them. A maid earning 100 KD, yet costing the health system 5000 KD is not a wise investment.
The solution is health insurance. You want to hang around over 50? Get yourself full health insurance paid by you or your employer if he thinks you’re valuable enough. Otherwise your home country needs to take care of you in your old age. Heck, you’ve been transferring all your earnings there while you’re living here tax free in your youth. Its time for some payback.
Why the Govt health insurance mandatory… Why not give me an option to choose between Govt and Pvt…
Hilarious that this was accompanied by a screenshot of the unoriginal Kuwait “Happy” video. lol
@buzz
Am 11 yrs in kuwait…family of 4 paying insurance money to Govt…never stepped in the clinic even once except for mandatory vaccination for kids…. payback ???
There are tons of such who don’t opt for the Govt clinic.. get real facts…
5 KD a pop is not insurance. It doesn’t even cover the paperwork of you stepping into a government clinic, not to mention the medicine or the salary of the doctors and nurses who look at your papers. Real insurance will cost your family 1860 KD a year minimum. Pay it and we will all be happy.
That’s what I do….why not spare me of that 200kd that I pay for nothing
…
Well said, @RT
Like i said bitch, this isn’t your country and it will never be if no revisions will be made soon we can gladly expect you to GTFO in 10 years or so when you turn 50. Good Riddance.
Ali, With so much hatred you will definitely die before you turn 50!
No he won’t, free healthcare will save him.
Actually, free healthcare kills you nowadays.
Clearly, this is a demographic solution to solve a demographic problem. When you understand the context, it’s clear that thorough analysis to create such an initiative hasn’t been properly done. A majority portion of the population is rather young, and so there’s a strain in the economy to provide employment. With government jobs being the most ‘desirable’, considering security and payment’, the public sector has to, naturally, prioritise their nationals. But the government sector can only do so much. Hence why you see evidences of early retirement, and prevention of over 50 year old expats.
With expats being a majority in this country, such legislation is not a good move. It’s adding to the already existing negative sentiment towards this country, and diswading talented and high value expects to come in. It is not sustainable, and absolutely descriminatory.
A more opportunistic path to take is solving a demographic problem with an economic solution. Yes, capitalism, although flawd, will have to do in such instances. Simply putting it, to ease the demand for government jobs, Kuwait would need to improve enterprise and innovation. When I say improve, I mean foster a culture of entrepreneurialism in the private sector. We can already see movements such as Sirdab Lab doing a great job on this front. When you create more opportunities for employment, the economy works in your favour. Socio-demographic solutions are just old school.
huh . come again
Make it more attractive AND EASIER to open foreign businesses, increase kuwaitization requirement.
You’re welcome.
This law should be made mandatory irrespective of sector, profession etc to understand the real benefit…
Hire the age 50+ Kuwaitis in the Government instead of the young generation since they have more experience.
Since we are on the intolerance band wagon let the law apply to everyone in the expat community regardless of nationality, race social standing and diplomatic status. Yeah diplomats too.. Why the hell should a diplomat and his family be allowed to stay? They are not contributing anything significant right ?? I mean other than maintaining their country’s sycophant policies towards Kuwait.
Kuwait should tell the whole world.. you are over 50, so you are old and unproductive so go back where you came from.
Matter of fact the world should learn from and take a page out of Kuwait’s book and prevent anyone over 50 from coming over to their side of the world. Yeah.. India, Australia,the UK and the US should say keep your old and sick farts to your self we don’t want them coming over to our country and eating into our national health care system either. They are over 50 and unproductive so why waste resources trying to fix them ? Take them back and stuff them into an old age home so they can pass away in quite abandon..You know out of site out of mind??
Kuwait could be on to something with this new revolutionary law.. Think about it cities and societies full of young people only. The old folks kept separated in closed of colonies where they will eventually die off. Every human being comes into the world with a shelf life of 50. The day they are born a use by date tattooed on their ass, best used before year whatever they turn 50. The eve before you turn 50 they have a wake for you instead of a birthday party. And then the authorities will show up at midnight and cart you away to the old people colony like garbage. Sounds like fun.. and yeah I know I should not have Charlton Heston’s Soylent Green before writing this post 🙂
Wasn’t this also the plot of Logan’s Run?
Btw they actually are making Kuwaitis retire earlier now so that they can make space for the massively growing young employee demographic. We had a baby boom about 20 years ago (starting from around the war haha) and now these people really need jobs. It’s funny because they rehire the really skilled retirees as consultants so they get paid twice, retirement+consultancy fees.
I am pretty sure this is just a rumor… No, I don’t have any evidence to prove my stance… But I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night!
I want traffic to end, don’t care if they nuke hawalli and Salmiya Donald’s Trump style!
then build a wall xD
first build your own nukes… errr for that you need you know who….
Trump would lend me XD
Trump ain’t local… surprising level of attitude when even a tissue box needs to be imported…
give us trump XD
at least here he won’t start WW3
im pretty sure trump is over 50 mate…so there you go!
It’s probably just going to be 3-4 people who actually get deported. No offense, but like 95% of Kuwaiti’s don’t have an education and don’t even try to get one. Basically, if you’re an expat and you work in the government sector, then you’re under risk. Other than that, continue living the way you are.
“95%” wtf
Seeing Ali’s comment makes me sad. I was in Kuwait before and during the invasion 25 years ago, and recieved a great deal of kindness during that time. His opinions appear contrary to those of the Kuwaiti’s I met then. I can only guess that he was born after that time, as it is an unusual outlook. Perhaps he would prefer to have lived in the 19th province?
+1
Govt. needs to find employment for thousands of local youth.
It is all but natural. Also, no person is indispensible in the world. Someone or the other will fill the gap left behind. Expats forced to retire at 50 yrs. of age will be filled up quickly and young people will pick up fast. There might be some initial problem but it will be easily overcome.
However, govt.in Kuwait has consistently been very kind to expats. I will request to keep those families with school going children to allow their parents in the job till the completion of children’s academic year.
I am 62 yrs. old, non-Kuwaiti and working for govt. sector for the last 35 yrs. I will also be affected but I have to bear with it with a smile.