Okaz

Some 7,490 fines were issued during a period of three months in five sectors that have been required to be totally Saudized. This means that not only are we facing the nagging issues of unemployment, Saudization and allowing women to work, but also facing issues related to workers’ rights.

A report published in Makkah newspaper revealed the details of these fines and indicated that 5,212 fines were issued due to Saudization and 2,274 fines due to not employing women. While there are large numbers of young people looking for jobs as well as women looking for work, we must find out why these five sectors are struggling with employing women and fulfilling the goals of Saudization.

This clearly means that there are reasons related to the work environment on the one hand, and the rights given to workers on the other. The report published by the Ministry of Labor and Social Development indicates that fines are commonly issued in the telecoms sector, gold shops, stores selling feminine products, hotels, furnished apartments and car rental shops. The report fails to give further details on the reasons.

There should, therefore, be more investigations to find out the reasons behind these sectors’ inability to nationalize jobs, such as whether these places offer an appropriate working environment or give rights to their employees, such as suitable salaries. If the reasons remain unknown, then these fines will continue to rise and jobseekers looking for work in these sectors will continue to increase.