This refers to the editorial “Saudization is worth the extra money.” It was rightly argued in the editorial that the cost of employing an expatriate should be higher than employing a Saudi national. To achieve this, the Kingdom should impose minimum wages not just for Saudi nationals indirectly thorough Nitaqat, but compulsorily by law for every resident. This will ensure that the locals are not undercut.
The expatriate worker will then automatically cost more as the employers will then have to bear over and above their minimum wages, the expense of airfares, Iqama/Labor Ministry fees, housing, transportation etc for the expatriates. Even in the US, for H1B type visas, there is a stipulation that the expatriates should make sure that they are not working below the minimum or prevailing wage in that geographic location for his/her particular position so that his/her visa application is not rejected.
Issuing of new work visas should become very strict. The Labor Office should issue new visas only after the prospective employer has shown that he has made all efforts to obtain a local person for the vacant position and has failed to get a local person within a reasonable time frame. If possible the Labor Ministry should match the unemployed locals with the prospective employer who has applied for a work visa.
This will put a break on the “free visa” trade prevalent in the Kingdom. There should be severe fines and penalties on such practices. The authorities should also launch a drive to curb the practice of expatriates setting up small businesses with the help of a local person, who then becomes just a sleeping partner for a nominal fee. These businesses should be run by young Saudi nationals. The banks should be encouraged to give them loans. If the expatriates have to be replaced, then some attitude surely has to change from the top also. — Omprakash Tiwari, Riyadh