JEDDAH, 23 August — A group of labor recruitment companies in the Kingdom has decided to explore the possibility of merging into a large conglomerate to become a decisive force in the labor market, Al-Hayat newspaper reported yesterday.
Abdullah Al-Hammoud, who leads an action team to prepare the groundwork for the merger of 440 labor recruitment companies, denied that the proposed company would make a negative impact on the labor market or hamper the Saudization of the market. He argued that the proposed company, on the contrary, would expedite the Saudization process of the sector, which is now dominated by expatriate workers.
Al-Hammoud also believed that the new company would end several labor violations including the tendency of some laborers to abscond and illegally find jobs with people who are not their sponsors.
On the other hand, several companies expressed fear over possible unhealthy competition and monopolistic tendency of the new company, which would never be a match to them. They are also worried about the future of 1,900 Saudi workers in the recruitment agencies. It would also ruin the good reputation built up over the years by some of the agencies.
However, Al-Hammoud dismissed the fear as unreasonable and arising from a lack of knowledge about the operations of the proposed company. He said the studies on the founding of the company will be completed in two months and it will start functioning only after getting government approval..
The company with several branches in and out of the Kingdom will offer three kinds of services — emergency services to clients who require technical workers, import of workers such as domestics and drivers, and hiring of workers of various trades who will be kept under the company’s sponsorship. It will also recruit a large number of domestic servants of diverse specifications to be supplied to clients immediately on demand.
Al-Hammoud hoped that the new company would protect the rights of both workers and sponsors and help regulate the Kingdom’s labor market. The company will also promote labor hiring which has been sluggish despite regulations to support it.
He pointed out that the government had issued regulations supporting establishment of private companies for foreign labor recruitment.
Several recruitment agencies held a meeting two years ago to explore the viability of founding a large recruitment company with a capital of SR10 million. Several companies had also applied at the time for license to import labor for leasing to clients for a specified period.
