RIYADH — The Ministry of Labor and Social Development (MLSD) has started carrying out on Sunday the first stage of the ministerial decision issued by the Minister of Labor and Social Development Eng. Ahmed Bin Sulaiman Al-Rajhi to Saudize a number of administrations and leading specialist posts in the tourism accommodation sector, Saudi Press Agency (SPA) said. The ministerial decision had laid down stages with specific time limits to implement Saudization of the tourism accommodation sector. The first stage will focus on occupations other than leading or supervisory posts. The second stage will target the supervisory occupations and those at the level of assistant manager. The third and last stage will focus on leading posts. The first stage stipulates that jobs should be restricted 100 percent for Saudi men and women in non-leading, nonsupervisory occupations coming under the jurisdiction of four administrations. They are sales and marketing, reservations, purchases, and front desks, with the exception of bellboy, valet (for parking vehicles), and doorman. In addition, jobs will be restricted to Saudi men and women in the following professions — room service orders receiving clerk, restaurant or café waiter, clerk for taking delivery of goods, storekeeper, secretary/executive secretary, general administrative clerk, administrative employee /administrative assistant, and administrative coordinator. The ministerial decision has forbidden employers from recruiting workers (from abroad), transferring their services, assigning expatriate workers in such jobs, using expatriate workers in the occupations mentioned in the decision, directly or indirectly. Any firm that violates this decision will be considered to have violated the Saudization of professions restricted for Saudi men and women mentioned in the list of violations and the penalties specified by the MLSD. This decision is an extension of the integration memorandum signed between the ministry and the Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage (SCTH) on Jan. 12, 2017G, corresponding to 13/04/1438H, on increasing the percentages of Saudization in the tourism and national heritage sectors and other fields mentioned in the memorandum, supporting the development of human resources in national tourism.
