JEDDAH – The Ministry of Labor might reconsider the Saudization percentage under the Nitaqat program in some jobs which are difficult to fill with Saudis, sources told Okaz/Saudi Gazette. The reconsideration of the Saudization percentage will be taken up on the request of ministries. Some ministries have already submitted requests in this regard following recommendations from the National Committees of the Council of Saudi Chambers of Commerce. The requests highlighted two issues: First, citizens were not attracted to some professions due to the nature of the work, and second, some places of work were far from urban areas. Considering requests from businessmen, the Ministry of Labor postponed the third phase of the Nitaqat Saudization program which was scheduled to start on April 20 (Rajab 1). The decision was taken in public interest and to give employers and employees in private sector more time to adjust to the new changes in the Labor Law approved recently by the Council of Ministers. The business community had been urging the ministry to delay the third phase of Nitaqat that calls for further increasing the percentage of Saudis working in the private sector by raising the minimum Saudization requirements for many sectors, implementing new calculation methods, and making changes in the system of incentives. The private sector had voiced apprehension that a quick implementation of the third phase would have an adverse impact on the Kingdom's financial, retail and wholesale, construction and manufacturing sectors. The Council of Saudi Chambers (CSC) said that it feared that raising the Saudization rate at this time would have a negative impact on the job market as companies would not be able to get an adequate number of Saudi workers, especially for SMEs. According to the postponed third phase of Nitaqat, downstream industries need to raise the Saudization rate from 25 percent to 41 percent, big retail and wholesale firms from 29 percent to 44 percent and other big commercial establishments from 29 percent to 66 percent. It also wants small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to increase the number of Saudi workers gradually within a timeframe. The number of Saudis in the private sector has increased to more than 1.6 million thanks to Nitaqat. Forty-nine percent of Saudis received salaries of less than SR3,000 before Nitaqat, and this dropped to four percent by the beginning of the current Hijri year 1436.
