JEDDAH, 5 December 2005 — Professionals such as doctors, university professors, consultants and engineers have been exempted from a new law which bans the recruitment of expatriate workers aged 60.

Labor Minister Ghazi Al-Gosaibi yesterday issued a decision in this respect, changing a previous instruction given to labor offices across the country.

“Professionals required by the country such as doctors, university professors, consultants, engineers, technicians, experts and others in the same category will be exempted,” the Saudi Press Agency said, quoting a ministerial decision issued by Gosaibi.

An official source at the ministry, meanwhile, said the recruitment ban was being applied only to unskilled workers. “It will not affect skilled workers and will not change the situation of expatriate workers already in the Kingdom,” he added.

Foreign workers, especially those who are 60, welcomed the revised decision. “We appreciate this gesture,” said Dr. Abdullah Moopen, president of the Saudi-Kerala Doctors Forum. He said the decision would allow older expatriates to remain in the Kingdom in order to serve the nation. “It will ensure continuity of service until such time as Saudi experts get the training and experience needed to take over,” he told Arab News.

Life expectancy has gone up from 50 to 60 years to above 70 these days, Dr. Moopen pointed out. “This means many people will be productive even after the age of 60,” he explained. He noted the role of senior expatriate citizens in training young Saudis.

The ministry imposed the recruitment ban on unskilled foreign workers as part of its efforts to create more job opportunities for Saudis.

Last year, recruitment visas for private companies were cut by 17.8 percent to 684,201 from 832,244 the year before. The new Labor Law insists that the number of Saudi workers in a private company should be at least 75 percent.

The Labor Ministry has set up a high-level committee to approve applications for the recruitment of foreign manpower and investigate complaints by companies whose recruitment applications have been rejected.

“The panel will look into recruitment applications arriving at labor offices and will make appropriate decisions after studying actual requirements. It will also listen to complaints of applicants,” Gosaibi said.