RIYADH, 20 December 2005 — The names of young Saudi men are being used to falsely fulfill Saudization quotas at some companies, the daily Al-Watan reported.

These businesses make agreements with Saudis to rent their names for a monthly fee, paid under the table, for the purposes of filing false reports regarding the ratio of Saudi to non-Saudi workers at those establishments.

The Saudis are placed on company payrolls to receive a monthly salary, such as SR1,500. In reality, these Saudis receive just a portion of the salary, such as SR400 in cash, each month to play along with the ruse, which includes signing paperwork attesting to their positions at the companies. The difference is used to pay the salary of the non-Saudi worker actually doing the job.

One businessman told Al-Watan that in many cases these Saudis are self-employed, and they see no harm in renting their names in order to help businesses avoid harassment from Saudization regulators.

One Saudi lawyer, however, said that participants in this practice risk punitive action, especially the businesses that can be shut down or banned from hiring any foreign workers. The lawyer called on Saudis to stop this scam because it is harming the Saudization process.

A source from the Labor Ministry said that there is a huge shortage in the number of Saudization inspectors, estimating that there are only 20 inspectors for more than 300,000 commercial establishments subject to Saudization rules.

Saudi Arabia has stepped up efforts to create jobs for citizens to combat unemployment estimated at as high as 20 percent and growing. More than 100,000 nationals are entering the job market every year.

A number of professions — mostly clerical and administrative — are already restricted to Saudis. But employers tend to prefer foreigners because they accept lower wages. Many Saudis spurn the modest jobs that foreigners are happy to take, and some employers describe this as a major impediment to the Saudization drive.

Economists suggest that the government needs to make expatriates more scarce and expensive in order to improve the Saudis’ chances of getting jobs.

The Saudi government decided in February 2003 to limit the number of foreign workers and their families to less than 20 percent of the Saudi population by 2013.