TAIF — The Ministry of Labor and Social Development (MLSD) is planning to introduce a new system of employment for Saudis. The private sector can employ Saudis by the hour and pay them weekly, local daily Al-Madina reported on Tuesday. The new system called "flexible work" will provide both the employee and the employer flexible work contracts. Employers in this case will not have to give workers paid leaves, register them with the General Organization of Social Insurance (GOSI), provide them medical insurance coverage or pay them their after-service benefits. However, they will have to insure job security and vocational health for their workers. According to labor market sources, the new system will boost the employment of Saudis in various sectors and will also satisfy the need of some citizens who do not want to work on long contracts. The private sector offers 35,250 remote job opportunities annually. The Ministry of Labor and Social Development said the private sector would turn 374,769 available openings, representing 3.5 percent of the total opportunities, into jobs that can be performed from a distance. Saudis will hold about 21.5 percent of such jobs, it said. The private sector will offer some 141,000 remote jobs by 2020, the ministry said, adding that this will raise the percentage of the Saudi working women to 28 percent. It said a part-time distance worker would be considered half a Saudi employee for the Nitaqat purposes but special needs people will each be considered equal to one Saudi employee, irrespective of whether they worked part-time or full-time. According to the ministry, the private sector employs a total of 10,617,190 workers, including 1,739,074 Saudis.
