Saudi Gazette report DAMMAM — Investors in the bakery sector will leave the market because of the shortage of employees and because Saudis do not like to work in the business, said an industry expert. Fahd Al-Salman, Chairman of the National Committee for Bakeries at the Council of Saudi Chambers of Commerce and Industry, told Eqtisadiah daily that a number of fully automatic and half automatic bakeries in Madinah, Jeddah and Makkah had to close down because of a shortage of workers. This will reduce production and increase the number of illegal bakeries, he said. “The spread of illegal bakeries in neighborhoods demonstrates there is a shortage of legitimate bakeries, otherwise who would want to buy from bakeries that are unhygienic and unsupervised?” He urged local authorities to support fully and semi-automatic bakeries because they are licensed and fulfill health requirements. Al-Salman added that Saudization targets for bakeries are 7 to 10 percent. Since there are hardly any Saudis wanting to work in the bakery sector, many bakeries had to let go of violating employees, he claimed. He said he intends to meet with Labor Minister Adel Fakieh to brief him about the condition of bakeries, especially as the nature of work in such businesses is different from other sectors. Most bakeries need to work for more than 18 hours a day and often operate in two shifts because consumers want fresh products every day. Adnan Fakeeh, member of the National Committee for Bakeries, expects up to a quarter of bakeries to exit the market if the situation does not improve. He said there are many investors who are offering their bakery businesses for sale. Other owners are waiting for some leeway from officials, otherwise the majority of them will be out of business for good, he said.
