Khaled Fahd Al-Harthi Okaz newspaper It can be said without doubt that the recent decision by the Ministry of Labor to collect a monthly fee of SR200 or SR2,400 annually from private sector companies and establishments in which the number of expatriate workers exceeds the number of Saudi workers has faced overwhelming criticism from small business owners. The decision took small businesses by surprise, as it was a deviation from the ministry's usual method of consulting citizens before it issues new regulations. It is being said that the goal of the new regulation is to increase the employment prospects of Saudi nationals by increasing competitiveness for national manpower in the labor market. The monthly “fee” basically increases the cost of employing expatriate workers, something which the authorities hope will help reduce recruitment of foreign workers. The decision does not take into consideration certain occupations that cannot be Saudized at present, such as cleaners and other labor-intensive jobs that are looked down on by society. Contracting and operation and maintenance sectors will suffer as a result and this will in turn have a negative impact on development projects. In my opinion, the means that the ministry has adopted will not help it to achieve the end, that is the Saudization of jobs, due to the negative effect it will have on small businesses that will not be able to cope with such a burden. I am also afraid that this decision will increase the number of foreign workers who run away from their sponsors because as small businesses go out of business, workers will surely seek work elsewhere. What should concern consumers is that they will ultimately have to pay the price for the increase in the cost of employing workers. Taking the viewpoint of small business owners into consideration and adapting to it indicates administrative awareness on the part of decision makers. Perhaps the challenge before the Ministry of Labor is to adopt other mechanisms that will boost the resources of the Human Resources Development Fund and curb recruitment of foreign workers without negatively affecting the development process and wrecking small businesses. This is a difficult challenge that needs hard work and thinking but it can be done.
