By Khaled Al-Sulaiman
Okaz
A SAUDI businessman commented on my article titled «The shopping malls speak Saudi» published by Okaz newspaper on Tuesday. He said the only way to compel the private sector to Saudize jobs is to raise the cost of recruiting or hiring expatriate workers.
With the exception of housemaids, it is obvious that the government is proceeding with its determination to Saudize jobs in all sectors, including the retail sector, despite warnings that raising the cost of hiring expatriate workers would mean the financial gains the private sector is making would go down drastically.
(The Kingdom has been steadily closing off different areas of employment to foreigners, who comprise about a third of the population, as it aims to create jobs for young Saudis and cut unemployment rates. The Ministry of Labor and Social Development announced last week that it would limit jobs in all shopping centers and malls across the country to Saudi nationals, but it did not set a deadline for its implementation).
Increasing the cost of employing expatriates might make a large number of expatriates jobless and they might eventually decide to leave the Kingdom, which in turn would have a negative impact on the economy.
This is not an accurate analysis. The exit of expatriates will have a favorable effect on the national economy in the long run. It will mean more jobs for the Saudis and so a drop in the country›s unemployment rate.
Though the government has a tool to control the process of job Saudization, which is the Nitaqat program, yet many employers resort to dubious means including fake Saudization to get around the government›s policies.
Therefore raising the costs of recruiting and employing expatriates seems a more realistic approach to resolve the issue of unemployment among Saudis and to create a natural environment for the national output.
A number of businessmen have been excessively sensitive toward nationalizing jobs via the Nitaqat program. They are therefore ever ready and willing to reject the concept of Saudization.
They believe the nationalization of jobs will increase their operational costs and thus reduce their profits.
They believe a lower turnover will definitely mean financial losses for them even though they will still make profits.
I agree with my businessman friend, who has a successful experience in the nationalization of jobs in his big company and its numerous branches. The important thing here, however, is for his fellow businessmen to agree with his idea of raising the costs of hiring expatriate workers.
