Commercial stores start hiring of Saudi salesmen

Retail stores, companies and malls have started hiring Saudi youth to work as salesmen to fill the expected vacuum created by the exit of thousands of expatriate workers dominating this sector in the ongoing raids on undocumented foreign laborers in the Kingdom.
The local retail sector has 1.5 million workers of which only 16 percent comprise Saudis. The General Organization for Technical and Vocational Training has designed a number of programs with a view to employ Saudis in a number of private companies.
Saudi Arabia is ranked second for retail sales activities after the United Arab Emirates. Saudi Arabia has launched huge projects that have contributed to the increase in the number of commercial malls and stores. The current retail trade space is 4.45 million square meters which is expected to expand as a result of the rise in Saudi expenditures. Riyadh and Jeddah have the largest share of retail space.
“The retail sector can provide more than 700 thousand jobs for Saudis. At the same time, the costs of hiring Saudis are less than for expat workers. Small and medium-sized business previously worked to arrange visas and living costs for its expat workers,” Dr. Farooq Al-Khateeb, a professor at King Abdul Aziz University told Arab News.
A vacuum of workers and salespersons in commercial stores following the three-month grace period deadline is expected. Many foreign salespersons didn’t transfer their sponsorships to their employers owing to the low salaries. As a result, a large segment of the foreign workforce left the Kingdom fearing punitive action.
“A lot of Saudis have proved their skills in this sector. However, companies that own stores in malls don’t offer incentives to attract Saudis,” Farooq Al-Khateeb added.
Many Saudi youth in their early twenties also don’t have enough experience which hinders efficiency while women often perform better because the labor requirements stipulate that they have to be at least 30 in order to work.
A lot of perfume stores in Jeddah have already started hiring saleswomen. Many companies have also begun publishing advertisements encouraging Saudis to apply for jobs as salespersons in their stores.
“We are looking for Saudis to work as salespersons to avoid the high cost of hiring expat workers. We used to hire Egyptians as salespersons. However, we still have some branches that have expats working without transferring their sponsorships. This may result in problems with the labor authorities. Therefore, we have to hire Saudi staff to work in all our branches in the Kingdom before the ending of the three-month grace period to avoid punishment,” Yaqoob Hafez who works as a supervisor in a private perfume company told Arab News.
The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) currently has 200 shopping center projects underway at a cost of $65 billion. The sales volume of shopping centers in the GCC reaches $ 30 billion, as these centers contribute to about 5.5 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) of GCC countries. This percentage is likely to increase in light of the consumption and expenditure growth of individuals, according to statistics published by the Riyadh Chamber of Commerce and Industry.