RIYADH: The Ministry of Labor has assured expatriates that they will not lose their jobs under the proposed new zones (Nitaqat) system. The goal of the system is to ensure more jobs for Saudis in the private sector. Providing further clarification on the much-discussed new system, the ministry said its policy is to rectify the imbalances in the labor market, where Saudi nationals constitute only 10 percent of the total private sector workforce. The Ministry of Labor lauded the contribution of expatriate workers to the Kingdom's development plans and their efforts in all fields and specializations. The ministry said, “The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia invests intensively in mega development projects that increase the demand for manpower. It is noteworthy that the ministry issued work visas to over two million expatriate workers during last year.” It said that the “Nitaqat” system is part of the ministry's short-term strategy to stimulate private sector enterprises to nationalize jobs. The zones system will be followed by several phased initiatives to restructure the Saudi labor market. These initiatives include improving the environment for women workers, training job seekers, wage protection and extending further rights to workers. The ministry said the zones system will classify companies based on how many jobs are provided for Saudis in relations to size and industry. It then gives the enterprises a color classification of red, yellow, green and excellent. Those falling within the green and excellent category will be provided certain services, incentives and facilities by the ministry. Those companies falling within the yellow and red zones, that do not meet the Saudization employment quotas, will not be given any rewards by the ministry. If an enterprise is classified within the red or yellow zone, its transactions will be rejected or it will be deprived of services. For example, these companies will not be allowed to renew the work permits of their expatriate workers while those in the yellow zone will be able to renew the work permits of their recently recruited workers, who have worked in the Kingdom for less than six years. The Ministry of Labor said this does not mean that expatriate workers will lose their jobs. On the contrary, the zones system will give expatriate workers an opportunity to improve their work status by signing contracts with enterprises within the excellent or green zones without getting permission from their previous employers. Expatriate workers can guarantee job stability by helping their companies employ more Saudi nationals, thereby shifting to the excellent and green zones. The ministry disclosed that it is currently working on putting final touches to new initiatives for expatriate workers. This will include an updated system for recruitment agencies, wage protection, compulsory insurance for domestic workers, and a multilingual call center to receive complaints and report any emergency cases. Another significant feature of the new system is that the sons and daughters of Saudi women married to expatriate men, expatriate husbands of Saudi women and expatriate wives of Saudi husbands, will be counted as Saudi nationals. These measures will raise the nationalization percentages in some enterprises. By employing them, an enterprise can be upgraded to a higher zone. The ministry expects most of the 800,000 enterprises in the Kingdom to be classified in the green zone. Implementation of the computer system will begin after Eid Al-Fitr in September.
