MAKKAH: Haj transport companies, which are registered members of the General Syndicate of Cars, are facing an annually recurring issue involving the reluctance of Saudis from participating in seasonal jobs as drivers and technicians.

Despite the syndicate’s announcement of the availability of more than 24,000 jobs for drivers and technicians over two months ago, the number of Saudi nationals who have applied has reached a mere 99 applicants. Job perks and benefits provided by the Syndicate did not motivate the young nationals to solve this seasonal issue.

The General Secretary of the GSC and the official spokesman for the companies Marwan bin Rashad Zubaidi said that the response to such jobs has been inadequate due to a number of reasons. For instance the Traffic Directorate has suspended the issuing of temporary licenses for seasonal vehicles, furthermore the new labor law prohibits government employees who are below the fifth grade from being given a heavy transport license. Such factors accumulated together result into reluctance from participating in the jobs.