As the world rapidly moves into virtual offices to process workflow for greater efficiency, hundreds of people line up under unpredictable weather conditions as early as 2 A.M. at the Riyadh Labor Office to be closer to the window clerk five hours later. Throughout the night, people have been seen waiting on dark wisdom of the labor office. Whether waiting to process a job application or a labor dispute, the operational aspect of workflow is: agony. Riyadh Labor Office is perhaps special in its never-ending bureaucracy in processing paperwork transactions, a problem that has plagued most government offices, said Mufleh Al-Qahtani, spokesman of National Human Rights Commission. Talal Bakri, a Shoura Council member, voiced concerns over the limpness of management in some government offices calling for an overhaul of the current administrative systems. People in line said that they do not need to prove that the Labor Office in Riyadh stands witness to a failed administrative system. The long lines start here maybe when the last employee of the labor office leaves office at the end of the day, said a man holding a service number in his hand and a job application. “I'm sure they have big caseloads and not enough people, but we're just a number to them,” he said. More than 300 people are estimated to line up in early morning hours with numbers in their hands to have their paperwork completed on the same day, if they are lucky. They wait half asleep. When they hear the call for Fajr (dawn) prayer, they go to pray hoping their places are not taken. The problem has dragged on for years now with no other functional labor offices in the city, a man said. “An office was started in the Industrial Zone here, but it has got no employees yet,” said Salem Al-Otaibi. “Believe me, I have waited for this labor office under all types of weather conditions, from heavy rains to sandstorms,” he said. Perhaps this office is unique, he added. “These transactions are completed in only a few minutes somewhere else. Indeed, this one is unique.” Labor officials need to see for themselves what is happening, said Khaled Al-Inizi. More offices should be opened, he said, “I don't know what is holding them?” – Okaz/SG __
