JEDDAH: Nearly 594,000 private sector companies were classified in the red zone over the past year, according to a source at the Labor Ministry.

This comes as the year 2014 saw an increase in the numbers of male and female Saudi employees employed in the private sector.

“In total, 347,275 thousand male and female employees obtained jobs, including 322,358 new employees and 24,917 returning employees,” he said, noting that 59 percent of these employees are male and 41 percent are female.

The private sector currently employs 401,513 Saudi female employees in total, he said, in a report in a local publication.

The Ministry of Labor has gradually begun to include small companies with nine employees or less in Nitaqat by requiring them to employ at least one Saudi national on a continuous basis and register this employee with GOSI.

As per the ministerial degree, these very small companies will be classified under the green zone if they continuously employ at least one Saudi national. These companies can benefit from ministerial services, including renewal of employee labor permits, transferring services of foreign national employees, and recruitment.