A number of local charities complained of their inability to hire Saudis, arguing that the majority of locals refuse to work at charities due to low monthly salaries. These charitable organizations also asserted that the Ministry of Labor refuses to provide proper facilities for such purposes.

Ahmed Al-Manosur, director of a charity for people with special needs in Jeddah, claimed that several Saudi workers have rejected a job at his organization after learning about the salary, which does not exceed SR7,000 per month. According to Al-Manosur, this is the reason charities turn to expats, mainly to work as specialists.

"There are some Saudis who prefer to work temporarily at charities to acquire experience, and after a short period of time, they move on to find other job opportunities at private hospitals or government medical centers. The Saudization rate does not exceed 5 percent at charity organizations at any given time," he told Arab News.

Last November, the Labor Ministry rejected the charities' requests to be exempted from labor fees and the issuance of foreign workers permits. The ministry demanded charities raise Saudization by 50 percent in order to be spared these labor permit fees.

"We can say Saudi women are more keen to work at charities than Saudi men. Women here do not pay attention to salaries, but are more work-oriented. They like their job and make more efforts to follow up on cases," Al-Manosur added.

The ministry stressed the importance of providing job opportunities for male and female Saudis, and the necessity to nationalize jobs in charitable organizations, as well as cooperative and social communities. Officials at the ministry think that the large presence of expat workers in the charity field generates risks which are well known to everyone, pointing out the charitable work is attractive for many Saudi employment seekers.

"Charities in the Kingdom do not offer attractive salaries to Saudis, but they provide training opportunities for locals who receive academic certificates specializing in disabled people," Abdullah Al-Mubarak, a Saudi who was trained at a charity organization in Jeddah, told Arab News.