Jeddah — Minister of Labor and Social Development Mufrej Al-Haqbani has approved amendments in the Nitaqat Saudization program for the classification of various establishments. Firms with one to five workers will be renamed from very small firms to small category A. Those with 6 to 49 workers will be renamed from small firms to small firms category B. The new classifications will come into effect from Dec. 11. Spokesman of the ministry Khlaed Abalkhair said the amendments are in keeping with the development of the balanced Nitaqat program. The ministry had approved earlier a new classification for medium size firms by dividing them into three categories as per the number of workers. According to the new classification, medium size firms under category A will have 50 to 99 workers, category B will have 100 to 199 workers and category C will have 199 to 499 workers. The balanced Nitaqat program will register points scored by each firm according to five factors: the percentage of Saudization, the average salaries of Saudi workers, the percentage of Saudi women workers, job sustainability for Saudis, the percentage of Saudis with high salaries.
