Hafr Al-Batin campaigns for Saudization of mobile phone sector

A crackdown on employment practices in the cell phone sector has revived the hopes of Saudi youth to make a career by selling mobiles.
Joint committees in the city of Hafr Al-Batin in the Eastern Province instigated campaigns against violators of the foreign labor system, according to a local newspaper. The operation resulted in the return of Saudi labor to the job market as salesmen at mobile shops.
This job market has been dominated by foreign labor in the past.
“The implementation of the Saudization process contributed to the employment of Saudi youth at mobile outlets,” said Nawaf Al-Enzi, head of the joint committees that ordered the campaigns. He added that authorities in the city regularly inspect the market to detect any violations.
A number of such outlets which are run by foreign labor shut their shops during the campaign.
A young man working at one of the shops described the decision as fair. “The majority of foreign labor working at these shops are violators of the Iqama system,” he said, adding, “They are actual mafias who manipulate and control the market.”
“The fact is they raise or reduce prices of mobiles to control the situation. This caused huge losses for us,” he said, stressing that most of them buy damaged gadgets, fix them and sell them at higher prices. Sometimes, they even sell them with guarantees. “Most shop owners were forced to close down and get out of the sector altogether,” he concluded.