14 February 2017

Riyadh — The Ministry of Labor and Social Development said that it will open an investigation into an advertisement which asked only Indian nationals to apply for engineering jobs at a Saudi company.

The advertisement — which reportedly offered jobs in several companies in a number of Gulf countries, including the Kingdom — has angered Saudis who claimed it to be discriminatory.

The ministry said the ad is deemed unacceptable and that it will investigate the matter further.

The ministry’s spokesperson Khaled Aba Al-Khail said on Twitter that anyone who posts such ads, which do not adhere to the ministry’s regulations, will be held accountable.

“The ministry does not allow the use of such ads, and imposes sanctions on those who violate it. And the matter is currently being taken care of by the Saudi Ministry of Labor and Social Development.”

Saudis took to social media to express resentment over the advertisement and commented that there are many qualified Saudis who are worthy of these posts.

They also voiced surprise that the offered salaries ranged between $2,600 and $8,000.

Twitter user @abngahtan tweeted: “The salary is shocking… an engineering job advertisement for Indians only in Saudi! And before that, only Jordanians, what a provocation.”

© The Saudi Gazette 2017