JEDDAH, 23 December 2006 — Labor Minister Ghazi Al-Gosaibi yesterday issued a decision banning 129 companies and establishments from foreign recruitment for two years for failing to comply with Saudization regulations.
“These companies have not registered any Saudi with the General Organization for Social Insurance despite the presence of 100 or more expatriate workers employed with them,” the Saudi Press Agency reported, quoting the minister’s order.
The companies included Al-Rajhi Industrial and Trading Company, the International Indian School, Anwar Al-Arabiya Contracting, Hoshani Plastic Factory, Muwasat Medical Service Company, Ali Muhammad Al-Sudais Est. for Trade, Saudi-Cyprus Construction Company, Al-Raed Electrical Products Factory, Deema Contracting, Abdullatif Hamoud Al-Shammary Est., Al-Hayat Medical Co., Prince Abdul Ilah Abdul Rahman ibn Nasser Est. for Contracting, Fouzi Ali Bundagji for Technical Support, Shouman International for Development, Al-Sharief Fouad Abdullah Al-Sharief Jewelers, Zahran for Operation and Maintenance, Al-Yamamah for Trade & Contracting, Safari Co., and Dar Al-Shifa Polyclinic.
Al-Gosaibi had earlier warned that his ministry would not go easy on establishments and institutions that attempt to skirt Saudization quotas.
“There are systemized penalties,” he said during a graduation ceremony of Al-Rimaizan Training Center in Riyadh recently. “Penalties can go up to the person or establishment being forbidden from applying for loans or services.”
The official unemployment rate among Saudis is put at nine percent for men and 22 percent for women. In an attempt to spur employment among Saudi nationals, the Kingdom in recent years asked companies to reserve a percentage of their jobs for citizens. Companies routinely skirt these quotas through falsified paperwork or temporary Saudi hires.
Al-Gosaibi said insufficient training was a major factor in unemployment in the Kingdom, as well as the tendency for some companies to skirt their Saudi quotas. The minister said that Saudi youths who have not been trained should not consider applying for jobs.
“The Saudi market has no place for untrained Saudis,” he said.
