Saudi Arabia plans to limit the number of work permits given to foreigners in an attempt to increase employment among Saudis. Larger firms will need to meet higher quotas, the country’s labour minister said on Tuesday.
Companies in the world’s leading oil exporter will have a three-month period uptill September 7 to achieve a prescribed quota of Saudi employees, Labour Minister Adel Fakieh told Al Arabiya TV. “The larger the company is, the higher rate of Saudisation is required from it. If companies exerted even the smallest of efforts the unemployment rate would fall significantly,” he said.
Businesses will be deprived of their privileges if they do not comply, Fakieh said without giving further details. In 1994, the government began a “Saudisation” plan, setting quotas for the number of nationals private firms must hire. The programme failed to achieve a significant increase in the participation of nationals in the private sector, where Saudis still account for only 10 percent of employees. Companies found a number of ways to circumvent the rules. Unemployment among nationals in the kingdom, which sits on more than a fifth of global oil reserves, is running at 10.5 percent, according to the figures this week.
Some 28 percent are women and 40 percent are high school graduates. Companies favour workers from Asia, who, they say, are prepared to work for long hours on low salaries, or well-paid foreign experts.
