Deputy Labor Minister Mufrij Al-Haqabani unveiled his ministry’s plans to change the Saudization strategy to attract more young Saudis to the private sector.
He said: “We are carrying out a study on the possibility of linking Saudization to how much Saudi employees are paid rather than the number of employees hired by the private sector.”
Al-Haqabani also disclosed the ministry would soon clinch agreements with its Philippines and Indonesian counterparts to resume domestic staff recruitment that has stalled since last year, Alsharq newspaper reported.
The minister was speaking to reporters after opening a workshop to support the programs of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) at Marriot Hotel in Riyadh on Sunday evening. Al-Haqabani said the new Saudization strategy would focus on evaluating the money the private sector is allocating for their Saudi staff’s wages.
“Through this, the ministry aims to ensure a fair distribution of wages to Saudi employees out of the total salary being disbursed by private companies.
“This would help attract a large number of Saudi youths to take up challenging careers.”
Al-Haqabani said the ministry is about to conclude agreements with the labor ministries of Indonesia and the Philippines with regard to the resumption of recruitment of housemaids and drivers.
“Earlier, the Council of Ministers had authorized the ministry to sign agreements with various countries to hire domestic workers. Accordingly, the ministry is working on concluding agreements as well as to remove any complications and hurdles.” According to Al-Haqabani, as many as 14 recruitment companies have applied for licenses, of which three received initial approval from the Ministry of Commerce and Industry while the Ministry of Labor issued final licenses for another two.
The minister warned employers who force their employees to work outdoors during the midday hours would be dealt with firmly. He added: “The ministry will strictly enforce a royal decree issued in this regard.”
The two-month nationwide ban on outdoor work between 12:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m. came into force on July 1.
Al-Haqabani said the ministry is working on a National Labor Market Observatory, which is in its final phase of completion.
The ministry will soon launch the observatory, which will be a comprehensive database of key labor market indicators.
Al-Haqabani said: “The ‘dashboard’ initiative will help the government to track and understand labor market statistics, performance, and outcomes.
“It will be a key tool for fact-based decision-making by both researchers and policymakers.
The observatory is being developed in coordination with the World Bank, the International Labor Organization and global consultancy companies.”
Al-Haqabani said the ministry has so far not made any decision to implement a two-day weekend for private sector employees.
“The royal decree had directed the ministry and other concerned agencies to carry out studies and fix work hours accordingly.
“The ministry, with the participation of a number of agencies, will carry out studies about the topic and present it to the concerned agencies.”
He added the ministry is not in a position to achieve parity in the pay of government and private sector employees.
