JEDDAH, 3 February 2003 — Saudi Arabia yesterday announced plans to put a 20 percent ceiling on the number of expatriate workers and their dependents in the Kingdom as part of efforts to solve a mounting unemployment problem. The plan will be executed within 10 years.
The unprecedented strategic decision was taken by the Manpower Council, which is chaired by Interior Minister Prince Naif, in light of a study conducted on job market situation.
Abdul Wahid Al-Humaid, secretary-general of the council, also disclosed plans to ensure that the number of workers from any single country, along with their dependents, should not exceed 10 percent of the total number of expatriates.
“Interior Minister and Chairman of the Manpower Council Prince Naif issued a decision fixing a ceiling for the number of expatriate workers and their dependents in the Kingdom. They should not exceed 20 percent of the total population in Saudi Arabia,” Humaid told the Saudi Press Agency.
Measures will be taken to reduce the total number of expatriates to the 20 percent rate by the end of 1433H (2013), the secretary-general said, adding that the council will review the ceiling as well as the measures taken to implement it every two years.
Humaid said that he expected the decision would reduce the number of expatriate workers in the country gradually over the next 10 years and that more job opportunities would be created for Saudis as a result.
Humaid said that Prince Naif has also endorsed a strategy to develop Saudi manpower in the health sector. The strategy was prepared by the council’s secretariat, the Health Ministry and other related agencies and its goal is to prepare Saudis to take up various jobs in the health sector.
“The new strategy aims at improving the quality of service, achieving complete operation of the health sector by Saudis and realizing optimum utilization of national manpower in the sector,” he pointed out.
The strategy will be presented to the Health Service Council so that it can draw up executive plans.
There are an estimated seven million expatriate workers in the Kingdom, who work mainly in private companies. Unofficial statistics put unemployment rate among Saudis at more than 15 percent.
The Kingdom has already taken several measures to create more jobs for Saudis. The government recently reserved 22 job sectors — in addition to 34 sectors already announced — for its nationals. It also intends to Saudize taxi driver jobs within two years. New jobs reserved for Saudis include administrative managers and their assistants, procurement mangers, secretaries, car showroom salesmen and public relations jobs.
Speaking to reporters in Riyadh on Saturday, Prince Naif urged private companies to cooperate to solve the country’s growing unemployment problem.
“We should employ Saudis for which they are qualified. If we don’t work together there will be disorder, and we don’t want a situation in which the state forces things to happen,” he said.
He said that the employment of expatriates should not be at the expense of Saudi job seekers. More than 100,000 young Saudis enter the job market annually.
“We have long depended on others. There are seven million expatriate workers who remit no less than SR50 billion abroad annually,” Prince Naif pointed out.
He added that expatriates were also increasing the government’s burden in terms of putting pressure on infrastructure facilities and increasing crimes.
“If you don’t employ our youth, the result will be unemployment and corruption. Unemployment will lead to many problems,” he added.
The current figure for unemployed Saudis stands at 360,000, according to the Manpower Council. The government aims to create employment for an additional 817,300 Saudis over the next five years through a combination of Saudization and the creation of new jobs.
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.
The Kingdom also set up an apex Manpower Development Fund two years ago 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 the initial period of their employment.
