MADINA: An official report has shown that government authorities are partly responsible for 41 problems that have harmed the Kingdom's labor market and contributed directly to the rise in Saudi unemployment. Another major reason for the lack of jobs is that the Saudi economy is based in three major cities only – Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam. The report found that this situation has been exacerbated by the manner in which the authorities enforce regulations; the regulations themselves; and the “inappropriate” manner in which government employees treat their counterparts in the private sector. Okaz/Saudi Gazette has a copy of the report, which was compiled after a series of daily meetings held last month between representatives of the Ministry of Labor, Human Resources Development Fund (HRDF), Technical and Vocational Training Corporation (TVTC), Council of Saudi Chambers of Commerce and a company with which the latter signed a contract to prepare the report. The meetings resulted in some government authorities and the private sector presenting proposed solutions to effectively remove what the report described as “labor market problems”. The report contained seven ministerial proposals to solve the problems and improve the situation. Among the most prominent solutions is to link the systems in the Labor Office and Passports Department to immediately delete workers whose services have been terminated and have left on exit-only visas. Another solution is to raise the amount paid, of SR2,000 a month for every new Saudi recruit, to companies by the HRDF. Questions were also raised about the delay in the payment of this support by the HRDF. The problems were subdivided into five groups – nine problems in the employment and training of Saudis, 12 problems concerning recruitment, three problems dealing with the HRDF, five problems on inspection and 12 problems concerning transfer of sponsorship and changes of profession. This brings the total to 41 problems. The report found that the problems of employment and training of Saudis and achieving the percentage of Saudization is related to the Saudi economy being based in three major cities namely Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam. This made it difficult for Saudi nationals to search for jobs by traveling to these cities. Other factors highlighted by the report include a lack of qualified people in various sectors, the drain of employees to the private sector after receiving training and qualifications, the absence of training for Saudis on work culture and conduct, private sector working hours affecting the life of Saudi youth, lack of employment of women in the private sector, and Saudis' refusal to work in some professions like vehicle repair and panel beating. As for the five problems concerning inspection, this includes the inspector not dealing fully with all issues and the inappropriate manner in which inspectors treat foreigners in high posts. Inspectors were also not allowing workers any grace period to rectify any violations they may have committed. Of the 12 problems in the transfer of sponsorship and change of profession, one includes the authorities not changing the profession in the residence permit (Iqama) when the employee has been promoted or has changed his profession. During the review of the problems, seven ministerial proposals and one from the HRDF were presented, including 41 from the private sector. These include the necessity for the Labor Office to have controls to strengthen the contracts signed by the employee with the enterprise and the contract should also include a clearance certificate. The Labor Ministry is also being urged to study the labor market of Bahrain to benefit from their experience in the localization of jobs. The ministry should also consider working hours that might affect the productivity of the Saudi employee, to link graduates of the TVTC with the needs of the private sector, to participate in preparing and developing curricula, to convince Saudi nationals not to be embarrassed about some professions, not to discriminate between big and small companies in terms of recruitment, to upgrade the efficiency of inspectors in the private sector, to specify a period of time for processing recruitment applications, and to classify professions to help with the issue of visas.
