Saudi Gazette report

JEDDAH — There were 963,723 foreign domestic workers in the Kingdom by the end of 2017, according to statistics issued by the Ministry of Labor and Social Development.

There were 1.4 million house drivers, according to the statistics.

“There were 732,250 expat women domestic workers accounting for 76% of total domestic workforce while there were 231,473 male house helps,” said Al-Eqtisadiah business daily quoting the ministry.

The number of foreign chefs stood at 18,247 including 15,573 men and 2,674 women, the ministry said.

The statistics released by the ministry’s Musaned electronic platform that links agencies dealing with domestic workers showed that there are 605 recruitment offices in the Kingdom. “As many as 61,411 workers have benefited from Musaned, which has more than 40,000 curriculum vitae of domestic workers in its databank,” said a ministry official.

The ministry emphasized its resolve to protect the rights of domestic workers as well as their employers, ensuring justice and transparency and preventing involvement of brokers and unauthorized recruitment offices.

Workers are recruited by signing contracts either in the Kingdom or in their home countries, the official said.

“We have provided an electronic platform for interested parties to get the necessary information related to domestic workers in the country,” he explained.

Musaned is a program initiated by the Ministry of Labor and Social Development to monitor and improve the domestic labor market by acting as a facilitator between the private and public sectors.

Meanwhile, the ministry conducted a workshop recently at its headquarters to develop a work mechanism at shelter houses, especially those serving female domestic workers.

The workshop was attended by a number of officials from the ministries of interior and foreign affairs and the Human Rights Commission along with representatives of the shelter homes and dispute settlement committees for female domestic workers.

Adnan Al-Naeem, deputy minister for customer services and labor relations, said the workshop was to improve the services at shelter centers, face challenges and seek the privatization of these centers.