22 more job sectors marked out for Saudis

Author: 
By M. Ghazanfar Ali Khan, Arab News Staff
Publication Date: 
Wed, 2002-07-10 03:00

RIYADH, 10 July —The Kingdom’s Saudization drive got the biggest ever boost yesterday when 22 more job sectors were reserved for nationals in an effort to create thousands of openings in the face of growing unemployment.

Through a circular issued yesterday, Social Affairs and Labor Minister Ali Al-Namlah instructed labor offices across the Kingdom not to authorize recruitment of expatriates in the 22 sectors. These include administrative managers and their assistants, procurement mangers, secretaries, car showroom salesmen and public relations jobs.

The decision came a day after Prince Abdullah, the regent, told the Council of Ministers that the government was committed to creating more job opportunities for Saudis in both private and public sectors.

In another measure announced yesterday, Haj and Umrah offices will henceforth be manned only by Saudi employees.

The announcement said Prince Naif, minister of interior and head of the Manpower Council, has approved the recommendation to this effect of the fifth meeting of the Regional Council of Trustees and secretary-general of the council.

Dr. Abdul-Wahed ibn Khalid Al-Humaid, secretary-general of the council, said the decision applies to some 600 Haj and several hundred Umrah offices employing thousands of expatriates. He said Prince Naif’s approval came as an additional incentive to job-seeking Saudis who will now replace foreign workers in the Haj and Umrah offices. “This comes within the framework of the government’s keenness to care for the national work force in terms of training and employment,” he added.

The Kingdom, where unemployment among nationals is estimated at around 20 percent, has in the past few years reserved at least 13 job sectors for Saudis. Last year, the Kingdom banned expatriates under 40 from working in hundreds of jewelry shops as a prelude to Saudizing this sector within two years.

Also last year, two laws came into effect ordering corner shops to hire only Saudis and private businesses employing more than 20 people to increase the number of nationals to 30 percent of the work force. This percentage must go up by five percent every year.

In its Saudization drive, the Kingdom also set up an apex Manpower Development Fund last year to help Saudis get employment in the private sector. The fund is financed by charging each expatriate worker in the private sector SR100 every year. The fund collected about SR400 million in the first 10 months of its establishment. The money is spent on training Saudis as well as paying part of their salary in the private sector for a few years.

The Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs has also been trying to address the issue by recommending higher salaries for trained Saudi workers, while making them more productive on the jobs. The ministry argues that the expats siphon SR70 billion out of the country annually. This growing volume of remittance will drop sharply, once government agencies work together to find more jobs for nationals in the private sector.

There are more than 5.2 million foreign workers in the private sector, representing 96 percent of the work force compared to 2,12,000 in the government sector, representing only four percent.

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