JEDDAH, 12 October 2004 — Labor Minister Dr. Ghazi Al-Gosaibi has announced the government’s plan to cut the number of foreign workers by not less than 100,000 every year.
Addressing the Shoura Council on Sunday, he said the ministry had adopted a three-pronged strategy to solve the country’s growing unemployment problem — by rationalizing recruitment, training Saudis and increasing the cost of foreign manpower.
The minister was answering questions of the Shoura members related to the new labor law. “No law can satisfy the wishes of all parties,” he said, adding that the new labor law was an effort to accommodate changes in the labor market and protect the acquired rights of both employers and employees.
The labor minister strongly defended the end-of-service benefits (ESB) being distributed to workers. “The ESB has become part and parcel of work conditions in the Kingdom. Over the years, it has become a right which cannot be infringed upon,” he said, while thanking the committee that drafted the law for retaining the ESB clause without change.
“The ministry considers ESB an issue that cannot be bargained or backed down on,” he told opponents of the provision.
Gosaibi made certain observations about the current law, which exempts five categories from its purview — members of an employer’s family including his wife, children and parents who work in his firm; 2) domestic servants; 3) workers in ships with a tonnage less than 500 tons; 4) expatriates recruited for temporary jobs for a period not exceeding two months; and 5) players and coaches of sports clubs and associations.
He said the exemption of millions of household helps from the purview of law would leave them without any protection. He also expressed reservations on reinstating a worker terminated from service as per Article 78 of the law, saying the return of a worker against the will of his employer might cause endless problems.
The minister proposed establishment of of a special fund from fines collected as per the law and using it to improve conditions in workplaces.
Gosaibi emphasized the need to solve the problem caused by the inflow of cheap foreign manpower. “This can be done only by increasing the cost of recruitment,” he said and hinted at plans to impose a new charge on recruitment.
He opposed the idea of putting unemployed Saudis on the dole, saying it would hamper the ongoing Saudization drive.
Expecting a six percent growth rate this year, Gosaibi said the economic upswing would create new job opportunities for Saudis in the private sector.
Asked about the prospect of fixing salaries for Saudis working in private companies, he said: “We cannot ask an employer to give a worker what he requires.”
“Intermediate and secondary certificates have no value in the job market now and we cannot introduce impractical salary scales for those holding them,” the Saudi Press Agency quoted Gosaibi as saying.
