Riyadh – Decypha: Saudi Arabia is working on issuing a new policy to further tighten restrictions on employment of foreign workers, the concept of which is to pressure companies into hiring more locals, government sources told Arabian Business.
The government has set a goal of decreasing the unemployment rate to 9% by 2020, which stands currently at 12.1%.
One key benefit to hiring foreign labor is its cost effectiveness, a fact that may counter effect the country’s current economic reform.
Currently 12 million foreigners work in Saudi Arabia, most of which are in low-paid, labor intensive jobs. On the other hand about two-thirds of Saudi workers are employed by the public sector.
The new policy has been approved by the Minister of Labour, Ali bin Nasser al-Ghafis, and is scheduled to take effect on the 3rd of September 2017, unnamed sources told Arabian Business.
By Decypha News Editorial Team
