Rectifying process affects small businesses

The issue of illegal workers exiting the country under the amnesty offered by the government has hit small-scale industries, with several carpentry and blacksmith workshops in Dammam pulling down their shutters complaining of labor shortage. Small entrepreneurs believe that the government should have initiated back-up measures against the ramifications of the new labor laws.
Stating that they had not been able to meet deadlines of customers in the past three months, Fahd Al-Hammadi of Saudi Council of Chambers and Industry said: “We have stopped taking orders from individuals and establishments. As it is, we have not been able to deliver on commitments made in the past because some workers have left to avail of the grace period, while others are on annual leave.”
Al-Hammadi said: “We are not against the correction procedure, but we were expecting there would be regulations in place to protect small-scale industries like carpentry and plumbing.”
Emphasizing that small towns and villages were the hardest-hit by the new labor laws, he said, “Several small enterprises are virtually on the verge of shutdown due to the shortage of labor. Undoubtedly, the measures taken by the government will ensure greater security for workers and also benefit the employers, but the industry is going to be hard-hit by the labor shortage and the burden of paying rent,” he said.
Tareq Al-Wabel of the Eastern Province chamber blamed the rectification process for small-scale industries folding up, stating that most small enterprises employed illegal labor that was easily available in the market. Following the implementation of the new labor laws, there was a drastic shortage of labor in the market, he said, adding that such small establishments survived because of the availability of illegal work force.
“Medium and large-scale companies will also feel the impact of the crisis because many of their projects are delivered by small-scale workshops,” he added.