RIYADH, 22 January 2004 — Saudi businessmen have expressed reservations over a call from the minister of labor for a five percent increase in the number of Saudi employees in private companies.
Conferring with the businessmen, Minister of Labor and Social Affairs Dr. Ali Al-Namlah had called on companies to increase their Saudi work force by five percent annually, beginning with companies of 20 employees or more.
Meeting at the Council of Saudi Chambers of Commerce & Industry, local business leaders pointed to the difficulties facing Saudization, in particular the shortage of skilled and qualified Saudis. If the policy is to succeed, they said, the sectors in which Saudis are willing to work have to be spelled out. There was also a lack of statistical data about the labor force and its geographical distribution in the Kingdom. This had hampered the formulation of a comprehensive strategy for addressing Saudization. Furthermore, the government had to assess the impact of competition. It was already forcing some Saudi businesses to move to neighboring states and from there export their products to the Kingdom.
The meeting also heard that the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs is to conduct a Kingdomwide survey to identify job opportunities for Saudis for whom the unemployment rate is estimated at 10 percent.
The meeting was attended by the minister as well as Deputy Minister of Labor Ahmad Al-Mansour, Chairman of the Council of Saudi Chambers of Commerce & Industry Abdul Rahman Al-Jeraisy, Secretary-General of the Council Dr. Fahd Al-Sultan, and Secretary-General of the Riyadh Chamber of Commerce & Industry Hussein Al-Athel.
