Why do Kuwaitis prefer working in oil and banking?
It may not be a secret to say that Kuwaiti nationals clearly prefer working in the oil and banking sectors, making it a legitimate question to ask why there is such a professional bias toward these two sectors compared to other segments of the labor market.
The importance of this question is heightened by the fact that it recurs with every review of employment data, which reveals a clear disparity in the distribution of Kuwaitis across different sectors in the country and in job applications that reflect a widespread preference for oil and banking.
In practice, the oil and banking sectors are major attractions for Kuwaiti youth due to the job security and competitive financial and professional benefits they offer, alongside opportunities for development and training, clear career paths, and promotion prospects. Furthermore, employees in these sectors feel a sense of direct contribution to serving the nation.
In numerical terms, official data released by the Central Statistical Bureau and the Kuwait Banking Association revealed that the banking sector attracted approximately 25% of the roughly 45,000 citizens registered as working in the private sector. This reflects the growing role of banks as one of the most prominent employers of national talent, particularly university graduates.
As for the public and private oil sectors combined, social security data indicates the presence of approximately 21,700 insured workers, equivalent to about 29.5% of those employed in the private sector.
In this context, Abbas Awad, President of the Arab Federation of Oil, Mines and Chemical Workers, told "Al-Rai" that the oil sector represents not just a job opportunity, but a strategic national sector that directly contributes to supporting the Kuwaiti economy, making it one of the most attractive sectors for national talent.
Awad added that the interest of Kuwaiti youth in working in the oil sector stems from the job security and competitive financial and professional benefits it provides, along with development and training opportunities and clear career paths, as well as the sense among employees that they are directly contributing to serving the nation.
For his part, Faisal Al-Kandari, Chairman of the "Mashareef" Group, told "Al-Rai" that the banking sector is one of the most attractive sectors for national labor, given the work environment it offers, which allows employees to apply their ideas and continuously develop their skills, alongside the relative job stability it enjoys compared to some other sectors.
Al-Kandari added that Kuwaiti banks continue to invest in developing national talent through training and qualification programs and clear career paths, which has contributed to increasing Kuwaitis' interest in working in the banking sector in recent years.
He pointed out that banks are among the few sectors that continuously announce job opportunities specifically for Kuwaitis in coordination with official authorities, in addition to their role in corporate social responsibility and supporting developmental and educational initiatives.
These indicators collectively reflect that Kuwaitis' choice of career paths is not linked solely to the number of available jobs, but to a broader system that includes job security, financial benefits, and clear career paths. This explains the concentration of national labor in the oil and banking sectors in particular.
Conversely, some workers in the oil and banking sectors believe that the continued attractiveness of these sectors is linked to clear career paths, competitive benefits, and job stability and security. They emphasized that these factors represent the most significant difference when compared to other segments of the labor market.
They also stressed the importance of incentivizing the non-oil private sector to adopt more flexible and competitive business models capable of attracting youth, thereby achieving a greater balance in the distribution of national labor across various economic sectors in the coming period.
