The restrictions on account of COVID-19 and lesser salaries have delayed the arrival of Filipino domestic workers to Kuwait.
Labor Attache of the Embassy of the Philippines in Kuwait Nasser Mustafa said that the embassy has increased the share of domestic labor recruitment offices from 120 applications for each office per month to 200 applications.
LabAtt Mustafa said that there are challenges facing the recruitment of domestic workers from the Philippines.
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The cost of KD 890 specified by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry for recruiting a domestic worker is not considered to be adequate.
The costs in the recruitment process are constantly rising as the foreign recruitment offices are responsible for transporting the workers and allocating them to the designated employers and to cater to the medical expenses if the worker was found sick.
Other issues that complicate the hiring process include closures in Philippines and the low percentage of foreign recruitment offices compared to the neighboring countries.
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The recruitment process has changed and the cost for one contract is KD 750 with direct transfer to the Philippines that excludes costs associated with office rents, the employee salaries and profit rates. The percentage of contracts that are canceled out of every 50 applications is 15 percent.
Mahmoud Al-Sarraf, the owner of one of the recruitment agencies, said that the failure to vaccinate female workers in the Philippines has delayed the arrivals in the country. (AW)
