RIYADH — About 234000 foreign domestic workers joined the Saudi employment market within a year, specifically from the end of the third quarter of 2023 until the same period of 2024. According to a survey conducted by Okaz newspaper, among these domestic workers, the number of women who joined the labor market as maids and house cleaners made up the highest share, with about 231000, bringing the total number of female workers as maids and house cleaners in the Kingdom to 1.24 million. The number of male house workers in these categories stood at about 40000, bringing their total number to 480000. The total number of male and female domestic workers rose to 3.97 million, including 2.73 million men and 1.25 million women, distributed across many professions, most notably servants and house cleaners, drivers, cooks and food providers, guards of houses, residential and commercial buildings and rest houses, home managers, home gardeners, home nurses, tailors, and private teachers. Two years ago, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development began implementing a fee of SR9,600 annually for each additional domestic worker exceeding 4 workers for a Saudi individual, or exceeding two workers for an expatriate. The ministry has given an exemption in this with regard to humanitarian cases that require more than the permissible limit, including those with disabilities, chronic and serious diseases, and other diseases. The General Authority for Statistics announced recently that the labor force participation rate for Saudis and non-Saudis stood at 66.6 percent during the third quarter of 2024, recording an increase of 0.4 percentage points compared to the second quarter of 2024. The Saudi labor force participation rate also increased in the third quarter of 2024 by 0.7 percentage points, reaching 51.5 percent, recording an annual increase of 0.7 percentage points, while the Saudi employed population ratio increased by 0.2 percentage points, reaching 47.4 percent, recording an annual increase of 1.1 percentage points.
