In the Nitaqat system, companies are classified into three
categories: red, yellow and green. Companies in the yellow category are given a
grace period of nine months and those in the red category six months to improve
their status by hiring more Saudis before facing punitive measures. Yellow
companies will not be able to extend their foreign employees’ work visas beyond
six years, while red companies will be unable to renew their foreign workers’
visas at all. Companies in the green category are in an excellent position.
They have achieved the Saudization percentage target.
Most companies have started hiring Saudis, even if they are
unqualified.
Khalid Al-Ghamdi, human resource manager at Alshiaka, said:
"Companies have begun hiring less qualified or even unqualified Saudis to
get away from the red category and to fill positions. This will negatively affect
the Saudi labor market and stop the development of the employee and the
country."
He added, “Most companies are now hiring Saudis with low
salaries, demanding that they only show up and register their name in the daily
attendance sheet. This causes the companies huge losses."
Al-Ghamdi confirmed that companies temporarily hiring
unqualified Saudis to move away from the red category would soon return to that
category once the Saudi employees were fired. “Unfortunately, many companies
find themselves trapped and quickly try to increase their Saudization rate
without planning.”
Al-Ghamdi gave the example of the company he previously
worked for, which had a Saudization rate of only 17 percent. To escape from the
red category, they hired unqualified Saudis, and the percentage increased to
28, he said.
“Some companies decided to hire Saudis for SR2,000 a month
in a training program that ends with employment. After two years of training,
the Saudi trainees will be hired in the company with a monthly salary of SR3,000
to SR4,000.” According to Al-Ghamdi, such a long-term strategy program was
considered better than hiring unqualified Saudis to achieve Saudization.
Another human resources manager working in a private company
in Jeddah, who did not want to be identified, confirmed that both big and small
companies were now hiring unqualified Saudis only to achieve a high Saudization
rate.
Some companies are even hiring handicapped Saudis, because
giving employment to one handicapped Saudi counts for filling four positions.
“The Nitaqat program, in my opinion, is misused. It is going
to fail. Neither the employee nor the country will benefit from this program.
The Saudi government should create job opportunities that suit Saudis without
terminating expatriates or hiring unqualified Saudis,” he said.
He added: “There is a huge number of unemployed Saudis
holding high school degrees. How can companies hire Saudis without higher
qualifications?”
Wael Al-Zeben, a Jordanian employee working in a private
company, was sacked by his company and replaced by a Saudi who has neither the
requisite qualification nor experience for the job.
“I was working in an insurance company for more than five
years. The company had been classified in the red category. To escape from this
category, they terminated 19 of us expatriate workers. They replaced us with
Saudi high school graduates. The newly hired Saudis get lower salaries than
what we used to get,” said Wael. His previous boss told him that they were
struggling with the new employees, because they had no training or experience
on how to do the job.
Nuha Al-Kesiabri is a Saudi girl who found a job in a
private polyclinic immediately after she finished high school. The polyclinic
was searching to hire Saudis immediately, because they were in the red
category. The polyclinic employed her as a receptionist without any interview.
She knew that the polyclinic was only hiring her to escape from the red
category.
