There are too many expat workers in the private sector

There are too many expat workers in the private sector

December 24, 2016
Abdulmohsin Hilal
Abdulmohsin Hilal

Abdulmohsin Hilal

By Abdulmohsin Hilal



The chairman of the Saudi Committee of the Labor Market at the Council of Saudi Chambers of Commerce and Industry recently said that expatriate workers in the Kingdom do not pay taxes nor do they pay money transfer fees because the Kingdom does not impose such taxes or fees. He even rejected recommendations for collecting fees from labor permits issued for expatriate workers, boasting that the Kingdom is the only country in the world that does not impose taxes or surcharges on expats.

Some say that the present number of unemployed Saudis is not sufficient to fill vacancies in the private sector. I think this statement is false and can be easily refuted when and if the Ministry of Labor were to provide statistics showing the academic qualifications and skills that unemployed Saudis possess. If we had such statistics, we could then analyze the types of vacant jobs available in the private sector. I am sure that the ministry has job descriptions for jobs that are vacant. The present system only allows Saudi employers to recruit expatriates if there are no Saudis to replace them.

Our local Saudi market is in complete chaos because of the large number of expatriates in the private sector. All concerned government authorities should work together to issue stricter regulations and laws to regulate the market. Chambers of Commerce and Industry cannot fix the labor market because they do not have sufficient and efficient tools to do so.

If we looked deeper into the shadow economy that controls our market, especially the retail sector, we could pinpoint the problem. We need to stop the illegal visa business and illegal workers. I strongly believe that imposing no fees on expatriates is unfair to Saudis; we are also letting the governments of expatriate workers benefit from the money transferred to their countries.

Expatriate workers would naturally enjoy several privileges if the concerned authorities decided to impose charges on the transfers they made.

However, if we are not going to impose surcharges, we should pass stricter regulations to increase the number of Saudis working in the private sector.


December 24, 2016
HIGHLIGHTS