RIYADH — Saudi households are not showing any enthusiasm to hire domestic workers following the resumption of the process after a seven-month hiatus due to the global outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic. This is being mainly attributed to an increase in the cost of recruitment, including extra charges of coronavirus tests and an exorbitant hike in flight fares. Sources close to recruitment offices told Okaz/Saudi Gazette that the number of requests for domestic help is still very low. They pointed out that some contracting offices abroad are unable to receive new requests due to insufficient liquidity. According to the sources, the cost of Filipino domestic workers reached SR20,000 against SR19,000 earlier while the recruitment charge for Ugandan domestic workers rose to SR9,000 from SR7,000 and SR8,000. The sources reported that the Ugandan government lifted the ban on international air traffic effective from Oct. 1. The number of Ugandan contracting offices ranged between 180 and 200, and they are licensed to conclude contracts with one Saudi recruitment company and three recruitment offices. The volume of stalled transactions related to domestic help recruitment in Uganda reached more than 30,000 since the recruitment came to a halt in March. It is noteworthy that the Minister of Human Resources and Social Development Ahmed Al-Rajhi issued an order in the first week of October for the resumption of recruitment of domestic workers. The ministry's domestic labor recruitment website Musaned had started on Oct. 7 receiving applications after a long break. The procedures for concluding new contracts will come to an end on Oct. 31. The ministry suspended hiring of domestic workers on March 16. The new decision follows partial lifting of the Kingdom's land, sea and airports. According to the new ministerial directive, the recruitment period for new contracts is 120 days.
