JEDDAH, 30 March 2004 — The Saudi Job Creation & Human Resources Development Forum started here yesterday with a call for new Saudization strategies.
The two-day conference, organized by the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce & Industry (JCCI) and the Jeddah Marketing Board (JMB) in conjunction with Middle East Economic Digest (MEED), focused on the latest developments in Saudi Arabian human resource recruitment and development.
Creating employment for young Saudi Arabians had for decades been “a priority” for the Saudi government, Edmund O’Sullivan, editorial director of MEED, said in his opining address.
He said each year “hundreds of thousands” of young people graduated from the Kingdom’s schools and universities “and find employment in government and business across the country.”
“The challenge for the future is to maintain the record of success and extending it to the emerging sectors of the economy, the largest in the Middle East,” he added.
Amongst the subjects discussed at the forum were the merits of setting a Saudi minimum wage. In his presentation, Richard J. Tyner, attorney for the law offices of Dr. Mujahid M. Al-Sawwaf, said a minimum wage could be a solution to some lingering Saudization issues.
“A minimum wage would be a useful way to increase Saudization in a more natural way than by reserving certain job positions for Saudis or by requiring quotas,” he said. “Many expatriates are relatively low-paid, especially laborers from South Asia. If there were a minimum wage, then the salaries of such low-paid expatriates would have to increase - decreasing their desirability as a source of cheap labor. “If there is a position and there are Saudi and foreign applicants for it, and both would be receiving the same wage, then by definition the Saudi worker should be cheaper. There would not be any cost of recruitment in the foreign country. There would be no home leave tickets. There would be no need to provide housing.
“The only expense for the Saudi employee would be General Organization of Social Insurance (GOSI) payment for the annuities branch (nine percent,” he added.
The forum also showcased the latest in recruitment methods. In his presentation Youssef Berrada, a recruitment consultant for Al-Kawader discussed recruitment options in Saudi Arabia, and exploring methods of finding skilled and experienced Saudi workers. In his assessment of the Saudi market, he “was pleasantly surprised that (it) is not only stable and resilient, but a thriving market. I have talked to recruiters from the Emirates; they have told me that the real market in the Gulf is not Dubai but rather the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,” he said.
“Recruitment sounds simple, but is much harder than most people think. I would like to see dozens of recruitment firms mushrooming over the years forming alliances with universities, companies, local and foreign agencies and government departments,” he said.