All expatriates will be required to undergo a gradual profession test, Minister of Labor Ghazi Al-Gosaibi said. Speaking at the inauguration of the national vocational license project here on Saturday the vocational testing system has been designed by the General Organization for Vocational Training. The new measure would largely help in curbing the trading in visas, called ‘free visas.' Unscrupulous sponsors issue visas and hire foreign workers whose profession is not compatible with the issued visas. Several reports of exploitation of workers have appeared recently. The system will be applied in phases in companies and establishments and all individuals willing to take the test. Newly recruited workers will also be required to take the test at the time of renewal of the residence permit, Al-Madina reported the minister as saying. The system draws on local and international experiences in this area and reflects the current status of the Saudi job market, the minister said. The new vocational license system will be fully automated. Technicians will be enrolled on the administration's website and will have to appear in person at the Vocational Testing Center to produce the necessary documents and to have their fingerprints taken. Several languages will be used at the center, the minister said. Meanwhile, in an interview with Al-Riyadh, Al-Gosaibi said 13 percent Saudization quota in private sector is unsatisfactory and does not measure up to the aspirations of the Kingdom's leadership. The Ministry of Labor updates regulations and reviews its decisions to create a favorable environment for increased Saudi participation in the private sector, he said. “We also appreciate the development pressures which require us to supply private sector with the needed expatriate workforce to satisfy its contractual obligations,” the minister said. The ministry looks forward to increase the Saudization quota in the private sector, he said. “The government is keen on stabilization of the percentage of Saudization in private sector at 30% and at 10% in the contracting, maintenance, cleaning and operation areas,” the minister said. For localization of jobs good qualification and vocational and technical skills are essential. These skills will be instrumental in boosting efficiency and productivity of work in order to face up to cut-throat competition. The job market is suffering structural imbalances created by the presence of expatriate labor in large numbers, he said. “National agencies and in particular those concerned with the qualification and training of Saudis have to rally their efforts in order to bridge the gap between job market and education outputs. The Ministry of Labor believes that an optimum mechanism for creating harmony between education and training outputs and the needs of the job market is to activate the principle of direct interaction and coordination between educational agencies, training institutions and the chambers of commerce and industry,” he said. On other salient components to give an impetus to Saudization, Gosaibi said proper qualification and training accelerate the pace of localization of jobs. “However, this requires action on several tracks in order to minimize the negative implications of the procedural, organizational and cultural encumbrances on the Saudi job market,” he said. Citizens are key players in this national momentum, he said. On the rampant practice of sponsors charging workers a fee even when they are not working under them, Gosaibi said. Media has a bigger role in creating an awareness on the hazards of this phenomenon. “Rules prohibit all forms of human trafficking and violators are penalized with cancellation of their licenses for five years or more in case of a second offense,” he said. Despite clerics and Shariah scholars declaring the practice as un-Islamic, it is widespread in the society, Gosaibi lamented. __
