The Ministry of Labor said in a memo to all ministries, government departments and organizations that they should cut off services to employers that fail to meet standards for employment nationalization. The move is aimed at private companies found to be tardy in meeting Saudization rates required by the Nitaqat program, which places companies in zones based on their percentages of Saudi employees; the plan provides benefits for those in the top zones and penalizes those in the lower zones. Ministries and government departments can coordinate with the Ministry of Labor's Undersecretariat for Labor Affairs regarding nationalization of jobs during the first stage, which begins on Sept. 10 (Shawwal 12th), the memo said. It added that the move is one element of implementing the program's short-term solution to employ university-graduate teachers and holders of health diplomas, whose numbers have increased as a result of the increased number of academic institutions. The Ministry of Labor, which has organized a campaign to introduce and market Nitaqat to chambers of commerce and industry, stressed the importance of the chambers' and private sector's role in designing, implementing and developing the program.
