Kuwait orders enquiry into axing of nationals

NATIONAL REDUNDANCIES: According to ministerial figures 1,600 Kuwaitis have lost their jobs in the private sector. (Getty Images)

The Kuwait Cabinet has ordered an urgent investigation into layoffs of nationals by private sector firms as the global economic downturn hits the state, it was reported on Tuesday.

"The Cabinet asked the concerned authorities to prepare an urgent study on the size of the problem and propose solutions to deal with it," said a statement issued after ministers' weekly meeting.

Members of the parliament which the Emir dissolved last month charged that more than 1,600 Kuwaitis have lost private sector jobs .

Only 22 percent of Kuwait's citizen workforce of 336,000 work in the private sector.

The rest are employed by the state and their jobs are protected by law.

Around 1.75 million foreigners work in the state, overwhelmingly in the private sector.

Their number dropped by 20,000 last year, the first fall since the 1991 Gulf war. (AFP)

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