Saudi Gazette report

JEDDAH – The payment of monthly salaries in the private sector declined by 2.5 percent to SR44.34 billion per month in the first quarter of 2018 against SR45.46 billion during the same period last year.

This happened as a result of a decrease of about 604,000 in the number of Saudi and foreign workers, which dropped to 9.71 million from 10.31 million a year ago, said a report in Al-Eqtisadiah business daily.

The average salary of foreign employees in the private sector rose by 5.2 percent during the year, the report pointed out. The average monthly wage of foreign workers was SR3,899 during the first quarter of 2018 against SR3,707 in the first quarter of 2017, which is an increase of SR192.

On the other hand, the report revealed that the average salary of Saudi employees in the private sector decreased by 5.3 percent to reach SR7,197 from SR7,603 last year, showing a difference of SR406.

The report attributed the decline in the average salary of Saudi employees to low-level jobs accepted by them in the private sector.

The number of Saudi employees in the private sector rose by 6 percent during the year as their number jumped to 1.97 million in the first quarter of this year from 1.86 million a year ago.

As a result of the increase in Saudi employees, the total monthly wage payments to Saudi employees in the private sector rose by 0.4 percent to reach SR14.19 billion, compared to SR14.14 billion a year ago.

The report attributed the rise in the average salary of foreign employees in the private sector to the departure of a large number of unskilled foreign workers having low wages. Consequently, the employment of high-wage earners also declined.

The number of foreign employees in the private sector decreased by 8.5 percent to 7.73 million during the first quarter of this year against 7.6 million during the same period last year.

Due to the decline in the number of foreign workers, the total wage payments of foreign employees in the private sector decreased by 3.7 percent or 1.17 billion, to reach SR30.15 billion per month in the first quarter of 2018, compared to SR31.32 billion a year ago.