The Kingdom’s first licensed recruitment company became operational yesterday, heralding a new era in the recruitment of foreign labor and putting an end to the visa trade and role of middlemen in the Kingdom.
Saad Al-Baddah, chairman of the foundation committee of the Riyadh-based Saudi Recruitment Company, said the company will start receiving visas from the Ministry of Labor within two weeks and the newly hired laborers would arrive in the Kingdom within 30 days.
Al-Baddah, who is also chairman of the National Committee for Recruitment at the Saudi Council of Chambers of Commerce and Industry, said the company would recruit workers from such countries as Vietnam to offset the shortfall of domestic workers following suspension of recruitment from Indonesia and the Philippines.
Speaking to Al-Eqtisadiah business daily, Al-Baddah said the new recruitment regulation would put an end to the chaotic situation prevailing in the foreign labor recruitment market due to the unscrupulous practices being pursued by middlemen and unlicensed offices. “Saudis can apply for labor through the company’s website, which is now under construction and will be ready in the coming days. The employers will get job visas within half an hour after online registration of their applications is completed,” he said.
According to Al-Baddah, the company will recruit domestic labor from new Asian countries including Vietnam, and this would help solve a labor crisis following the halting of recruitment from Indonesia, the largest market with an estimated 1.5 million workers. “The ministry is expected to complete negotiations with Indonesia and the Philippines to break the deadlock in hiring domestic help in the near future,” he said, adding that domestic workers will get higher wages and allowances under the new system.
Hattab Al-Anzi, spokesman of the ministry, recently disclosed 12 new foreign manpower recruitment companies have completed their preliminary licensing procedures. Commerce and Industry Minister Tawfiq Al-Rabiah approved the establishment of the company as a closed joint stock firm with a capital of SR 100 million in February. Al-Baddah said the company will have 26 branches in various regions of the Kingdom within one year. Several recruitment offices from Riyadh, Jeddah, Eastern Province, Qassim, Arar, Hail, Tabuk, Al-Jouf and Al-Khafji have registered with the company.
He said the company would supply trained workers in all trades, in addition to providing training to domestic workers about means of safety, especially on how to handle fires and operation of fire extinguishers. The company concluded an agreement with the Directorate General of the Civil Defense to provide this.
Regarding training for domestic workers, he said: “There would be training in their home country, conducted by approved agents of the company, before their departure for the Kingdom. The second type of training would be given after their arrival in the Kingdom,” he said, adding that the company would make available food and accommodation for the workers until they join their employers.
Al-Baddah said the company concluded contracts with men and women trainers from within the Kingdom and abroad to conduct the training programs. The company chief also noted that there is a separate section for women employees at its headquarters. “The company is giving top priority to appointing Saudis and providing them attractive wages and allowances,” he added.
Domestic workers from Vietnam to fill shortfall
