Kuwait, Saudi partnership targets skilled workforce and labour-market efficiency

Kuwait is moving to strengthen the screening and verification of workers before they enter the country under a new partnership aimed at improving professional standards, raising productivity and increasing labour-market efficiency.

The Public Authority for Manpower (PAM) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Saudi-based Takamul Holding to expand cooperation in labour-market development, professional skills accreditation and service improvement, in coordination with Kuwait’s Ministry of Interior.

The agreement was signed at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in Kuwait by PAM Director General Engineer Rabab Al-Osaimi and Takamul Saudi Arabia CEO Ahmed Al-Yamani, in the presence of Ministry of Interior representatives and officials from both sides.

Al-Osaimi said the agreement follows directives from First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Sheikh Fahd Yousef Saud Al-Sabah to strengthen cooperation and exchange expertise with specialised organisations to improve work systems and services.

She said the MoU provides a framework for sharing expertise and supports PAM’s efforts to improve its performance and the quality of services provided to workers and employers.

A key element of the partnership will be the assessment of workers’ professional skills before recruitment. Al-Osaimi said Kuwait aims to establish professional standards, define and assess workers’ skills and use those standards to attract qualified workers and improve labour-market efficiency.

She said testing workers’ professional capabilities before recruitment would help employers select candidates based on their actual competencies and could also help address issues such as the trading of residency permits.

“If there is a clear and accurate tool to measure the skills each company needs,” Al-Osaimi said, it would have a direct impact on productivity and other aspects of Kuwait’s labour market.

Al-Yamani said the partnership would begin with the development of a unified professional guide, a project on which PAM has already made significant progress.

Linking the professional guide with specific skills would be an important step in developing Kuwait’s labour market, he said, particularly as verifying workers’ skills has become a challenge globally.

Under the partnership, Takamul will automate the verification of workers’ skills, qualifications and economic value, with the aim of providing workers and employers with a faster, simpler and less costly service.

The initiative is expected to support Kuwait’s efforts to restructure its labour market by attracting talent, aligning workers’ skills with the unified professional guide and ensuring that incoming workers meet actual market requirements.

Takamul currently operates 200 labour testing and examination centres across major labour-exporting countries, Al-Yamani said. In countries with smaller numbers of workers, assessments are conducted online.

The company has conducted more than 1.5 million tests for workers moving to Gulf countries, with its certificate and skills verification operations covering 160 countries, he said.

Al-Yamani said matching workers’ capabilities with the requirements of specific jobs could increase productivity and generate wider economic benefits.

The data collected through the system could also help Kuwait identify the occupations and skills in demand, as well as the roles being filled by expatriate workers. This information could subsequently support the development of training programmes and employment opportunities for Kuwaiti citizens.

Al-Yamani said more than 80% of employers globally are now more interested in workers’ skills than their academic degrees.

He said stronger verification of professional skills and qualifications could help employers meet labour-market needs, improve productivity and gain access to workers with the competencies required for specific roles.

The partnership also reflects a broader shift towards skills-based recruitment, as employers and governments seek to match workforce capabilities more closely with evolving job requirements.

Al-Osaimi said PAM would continue to expand cooperation with specialised institutions and develop partnerships that enable the authority to respond to changes in the labour market.

She also highlighted PAM’s focus on expanding digital services. The authority’s services are automated, she said, with further efforts underway to make the experience more flexible and accessible for both employers and workers.