26 February 2017
Ministry unable to sign manpower agreements with four countries

JEDDAH – Saudi Arabia is facing difficulty to recruit workers from Somalia, Ethiopia, Chad and Guinea as the Labor and Social Development Ministry is unable to sign manpower agreements with the four African countries, a responsible ministry source said.

The source emphasized the need to reach agreements with these countries in line with the Kingdom’s terms and conditions including reduction of recruitment cost and supply of competent and trained workers who should not have any criminal background and should be free of contagious diseases.

“Due to the dangerous security situations it was difficult to sign agreements with manpower supply offices in several African countries,” the source told Al-Eqtisadiah business daily. “Saudi recruitment firms have told clients their difficulty to bring workers from Africa,” he added.

He cited security situation and difficult procedures as two main reasons that obstruct recruitment of workers, mainly housemaids, from African countries.

Saeed Al-Maswi, owner of a Saudi recruitment office in Riyadh, said there was considerable increase in recruitment charges in recent months due to difficult conditions, tough procedures and security issues.

“Many Saudis have obtained visas to recruit workers from Africa but due to the security situation they are unable to bring workers from these countries,” Al-Maswi said.

He emphasized the need to facilitate recruitment from more countries to meet the growing demand. “Offices should take care of security and health issues while recruiting workers from Africa and other countries,” he added.

Al-Maswi stressed that steps should be taken to recruit experienced and qualified workers.

Saudi Arabia employs more than one million maids from Africa and Asia.

For many Saudi housewives, it was a matter of social standing and prestige to have several maids in the household. The maids are rated according to their nationality, with English-speaking Asians becoming the most favored. Others prefer Muslim maids from Indonesia and Bangladesh to ensure religious and social compatibility.

Saudi families were expecting the cost of recruiting housemaids to drop by a fifth this year after new manpower agreements to be signed with African countries.

Recruitment office owners had said the prices could drop by about 20 percent due to new agreements the Ministry of Labor and Social Development would sign with African countries in the first quarter of 2017.

Yahya Al-Maqbool, chairman of the recruitment committee at the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said offices had recently discussed with the ministry how to streamline the recruitment of foreign workers.

Saudis in the low and medium income groups have been affected by rising costs for recruiting housemaids, recruitment office owner Mohammed Al-Sulami and Adel Al-Jaber was quoted as saying.

A group of Saudi women recently launched a campaign to lower the wages of domestic workers.

© The Saudi Gazette 2017