RIYADH — Minister of Human Resources and Social Development Ahmed Al-Rajhi announced that the new labor market strategy, approved by Cabinet on Tuesday, includes fundamental reforms that would contribute to the labor market's development and upgrade its efficiency to keep pace with the best global markets. In a statement on his official Twitter account on Wednesday, the minister said that the employment market enjoys continuous support from the Saudi government headed by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman and Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman. Nasser Al-Hazani, the spokesman of the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development, said earlier that the ministry is working on many initiatives to organize and develop the labor market, and that it will be announced as soon as it is ready. The ministry announced on Nov. 4 new labor reforms that aim to support the ministry's vision of establishing an attractive job market, empowering and developing labor capabilities, and improving the work environment in the Kingdom. The reforms, which will come into effect on March 14, 2021, allow job mobility and regulate the issuance of exit and re-entry as well as final exit visas. More than one million expatriates are expected to benefit from these reforms that will lead to the abolition of the sponsorship system, which has been in force for around seven decades. The reforms will also improve significantly the contractual relationship between expatriate workers and their employers.
