Sana Abdul Salam Saudi Gazette JEDDAH — Employers and executives welcomed the new concessions for dependents of expatriates to work in the Kingdom, describing it as a positive step toward using the already present pool of skills and talent in the country. They also feel that this could greatly ease the processes of recruitment. The new concessions stipulated by the Ministry of Labor allow expat dependents to legally work in the country, provided they have consent from their sponsor and that their company submits a letter to the ministry. Also, whether a person can reside in Saudi Arabia or not now does not completely depend on their employer, as the employee can transfer back to their original sponsor if the work contract ends, or is terminated. Saleha Abedin, adviser to the dean at Dar Al-Hekma College, expressed relief and satisfaction at the newly announced concessions, explaining that for women's institutions it was always challenging to recruit qualified women from outside the country which was necessary to meet the growing needs of the country to provide quality education and training to its citizens. She said: “Eligible female candidates from abroad, especially those who are married, found it hard to relocate to the Kingdom without their husbands." Even if their husbands were willing to accompany them, there was always the question what their husbands would do here: Do they stay at home unemployed? “With the new regulations we can avail of the talents and skills of the qualified women already resident in the Kingdom under their husbands' sponsorship. There is a rich pool of unused talent and skills among the wives of the many professionals who are here anyway. Why not use this resource? This way the Kingdom would not have to provide work visas for fresh female candidates from outside the country, hence reducing the number of foreign residents in the country. This is indeed a very wise decision," she added. Hanaa, a human resources manager at a local firm, said this could radically improve the system and make it more streamlined, since as recruiters they are given more freedom to employ skilled people from within the country. “Since we deal with fashion retailing, we do need more qualified women; now we will have much flexibility in the way we employ people,” she said. Meanwhile, dependents of expatriate workers who were earlier concerned over the legality of their working in the Kingdom, are expressing joy over the freedom and flexibility that the new concessions have offered them. Suad Saiyed, an Indian national and accounts director at Alma group, said: “Worrying about being deported was like life threatening, especially in my case since at a pay of SR2,500 per month, I provide the primary source of income for my family. The fact that I can continue to work and reside in KSA has opened up new opportunities, for which I am grateful.” Saiyed is an expat dependent on her brother's residence permit. Hurreia Balooch, a Pakistani national and marketing specialist at Alireza Holding Company, said the decision takes a huge weight off her and many of her colleagues' shoulders. “I wanted to study after gaining some work experience, but was worried about how I could come back to the country after a break of that kind. But the new concessions have given us a whole lot of flexibility in planning our futures.” Balooch explained that while she is currently under her company's sponsorship, the fact that her stay in the country would be so closely bound to her work was a major cause for concern when she decided to transfer. For this reason, many dependent employees in her firm were earlier apprehensive about transferring their sponsorship.
