JEDDAH, 26 September 2004 — Companies and institutions that were late in specifying jobs available for young Saudis in their organizations have been reported to the appropriate authorities. Action will be taken against these companies.
The move came after representatives from travel and tourism companies attended a meeting at the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce & Industry. The meeting aimed at establishing the companies’ job profiles in the future so that training programs could cater for them.
Sources said the Ministry of Labor will find new mechanisms enforcing the timely delivery of reports from these travel agencies.
Abdul Rahman Al-Suraie, manager at the General Administration of Training, said they were not an enforcement department and all they can do is write reports on companies and institutions that do not produce a list of available jobs. He pointed out that only few institutions participated in the meeting; the committee was hoping for more.
In the past, the committee found great difficulty working with companies involved in custom clearing to provide job opportunities. They were forced to provide jobs when the Ministry of Labor asked them to Saudize their companies.
The meeting discussed ways to structure training programs that ended with employment opportunities and ways to involve the travel and tourism sector.
Managers of custom clearance offices said they want to extend the time period of training for young Saudis saying that the current period nine months) is not enough to qualify them for work. More than 100 managers of customs clearance offices gathered with officials and expressed their fear that these Saudis will not learn the job as it requires complex training.
According to official statistics, 80 percent of translators and accountant jobs are Saudized, the balance taken by experienced foreign employees.
