Al-Misbahy Okaz/Saudi Gazette JEDDAH — The Ministry of Labor has stated the telecom industry will be Saudized completely without exception. A source in the ministry had said earlier the "special expatriates", who include children of Saudi women with non-Saudi husbands, non-Saudi husbands of Saudi women and non-Saudi wives of Saudi men, will be exempted and could continue to work in the sector. "The ministry previously stated that special expatriates are not to be replaced by Saudis and are counted as Saudi employees and come under the Saudization system. However, when asked about the status of special expatriates in the telecom industry, the ministry denied any exemption for them from the Saudization rule," said the source. The source affirmed that the ministry would Saudize the telecom industry completely. "Non-Saudis can no longer work in the telecom industry. The ministry will coordinate with several ministries, including the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry and the Ministry of Telecommunications and Information Technology," said the source. The source said the Ministry of Labor will also coordinate with the Human Resources Fund, the Vocational and Technical Training Corporation and several private sector companies in this regard. Legal expert Tariq Al-Ibrahim said the ministry had stated that "special expatriates" are a part of the Saudization system. "The telecom sector should be among the fields of work open to special expatriates like Saudis. The ministry reserves the right to set aside a certain industry exclusives for Saudi employees, but there is no reason to bring special expatriates under the Saudization system with the exception of the telecom industry," said Al-Ibrahim. He said the ministry has data on the ratio of Saudis to non-Saudi employees in different sectors and industries and it can best decide the policies needed to improve the Saudi labor market. Abdullah Al-Amoudi, HR manager at a company, said there are 19 work fields that are reserved for Saudis, in addition to categories included in the Saudization system.
