Acting speaker launches committee to ‘investigate’ foreign employment

BAGHDAD — On Saturday, Acting Speaker of the Iraqi Parliament Mohsen Al-Mandalawi directed the Committee on Labor and Civil Society Institutions and the Oil and Gas Committee to establish a joint committee. This group is tasked with investigating the reasons behind the high rates of foreign employment in some oil companies relative to locals.

Parliament’s media department released a statement to 964media announcing Al-Mandalawi’s directive. The goal is to ‘understand’ the factors leading to the preference for foreign workers over Iraqi nationals in the oil sector.

While the specific causes for this trend are yet to be determined by the joint committee’s investigation, several potential factors could be influencing the hiring preferences within the oil and gas industry that are consistent across the globe in developing nations.

These might include the specialized skills and technical expertise that foreign workers bring, possibly filling gaps in the local labor market.

Additionally, differences in training and educational backgrounds, labor cost considerations, global operational networks of multinational companies, and language requirements for certain positions might play roles.