The Labor Ministry announced it is following up on the latest details regarding the mass layoff of 300 employees in the Kingdom. The recent decision of an Italian company based in Riyadh to sack the 300 Saudi engineers caused an uproar on social media websites and media outlets.

Labor Ministry spokesman Tayseer Al-Mufarrej said that an investigation has been launched after the Ministry received a official complaint from one of the sacked employees on Thursday. He added that a work inspection team was directed to visit the company’s offices in Riyadh to "understand the circumstances of the layoffs."

According to Al-Mufarrej, the ministry has reviewed the company’s documents and the case details from the time the employees were hired until they were discharged. “So far, 50 Saudi engineers who are still in their second month of work were informed that they are fired,” Al-Mufarrej said, explaining that the company had to let go of those employees after the government bodies that hired the firm’s services refused to use the engineers. Since they are only in their second month, employees were still in the three-month trial period when they were informed that they were let go, Al-Mufarrej said. “The company has notified the workers via e-mail that it doesn’t need their services anymore,” he added.

The ministry will consult all relevant bodies in its investigation and announced the results at the beginning of next week. “The ministry will make sure that everyone abides by the labor regulations and expose any violations,” Al-Mufarrej stressed.