I received a letter from a reader who insisted on not disclosing his identity — which is his right. At the same time, however, I personally do not agree with him about not identifying himself since he wrote about a matter that concerns him and concerns all those who own small establishments. He should have introduced and identified himself. In his letter he asked me to address the minister of labor’s decision regarding the impossible conditions imposed upon by the Ministry of Commerce concerning recruitment visas. “What good,” he asks, “are Saudi youth in working on construction projects or mixing cement? Please ask the minister to reconsider his decision in consideration of those of us who are new young businessmen just starting out.”
After reading his letter, I realized that the decision prohibiting recruitment by small establishments is the right decision. It is one that must be implemented in order to save the country from a worsening catastrophe, especially with most of the workforce being expatriates in small establishments. And the writer of the letter, with no grounds at all, questions the ability to find a Saudi who will do manual labor. We may find plenty who ask whether there are Saudi who can fry potatoes, make burgers at McDonald’s, sell pens in stationery shops, serve food or wait on tables.
Of course there are thousands of Saudis who can do these things and these are jobs that do not require any special training. The problem is that Saudis will earn a salary of SR1,500 which, in my opinion, is very little while a non-Saudi earns SR600 which is also a situation that must be ended. The non-Saudi worker is illiterate most of the time, is personally unhygienic and unaware of health and safety regulations. We often hear about food-poisoning cases in addition to poor performance which is understandable since who will give 100 percent for such a poor salary? And, at the end of the day, the non-Saudi worker transfers most of his money to his home country.
It is true that the cost of employing Saudis in small establishments will rise but we will get a better standard of service and quality as well as doing our country a service.
