Labour CS Reveals That Kenyan Nurses Have Rejected Saudi ‘Slave’ Job Offers

It has now emerged that the government is struggling to convince Kenyan nurses to apply for Saudi Arabia jobs.

For many months, President Ruto has been touting his bilateral labour agreements with several countries, key among them Saudi Arabia.

In January, the government advertised 2500 nursing jobs in the Kingdom, hoping to fill the positions quickly due to the unemployment raging in the country. To their shock, less than a quarter of that number had bothered applying a month into the advertisement.

On Thursday, Labour Cabinet Secretary Florence Bore appeared before the National Assembly’s Diaspora and Migrant Committee, where she revealed that Kenyans simply do not want those jobs.

The jobs were specifically targeting female nurses, but so far, more men have applied for the positions.

The CS revealed that 1,765 applications have been made, with only 586 candidates meeting the minimum requirements.

CS Bore correctly diagnosed the problem as the low wages being offered. “The shortfall in applications for the vacancies has been attributed to the low perception of the salary offer amongst applicants and the requirements for a 90-day bonding period for the Private Recruitment Agency facilitating the process,” she said.

In February, we revealed the discriminatory compensation schemes being offered to Kenyans by the Saudis compared to other nationalities.

The lowest paid Kenyan nurse can expect to earn around Sh104,000 per month in today’s exchange rate, a figure barely enough to afford decent housing in Riyadh. It would make them lower paid than Indian construction workers who sleep in horrid conditions in the Kingdom.

A British nurse is meanwhile offered over Ksh800,000 per month among other benefits not afforded to Kenyans.

This table shows the open and blatant discriminatory labour practices in Saudi, which may explain why Kenyans are shunning the job offers.

Kenyan Nurse vs British Nurse Job Offer in Saudi Comparison