Nitaqat brings down cost of hiring expats

Businessmen estimate that the residency correction period has helped save companies SR 10,000 on each foreign worker. This involves the cost of new visas, travel costs and recruitment fees.
According to official Labor Ministry figures, the status of 1.5 million foreign workers has been rectified and that the campaign has saved Saudi companies and institutions around SR 15 billion.
The Job Status Correction Fair at Riyadh Exhibition Center witnessed huge numbers of foreign laborers bidding to find employment at foreign embassies according to the cooperation agreement with Riyadh Chamber in this regard.
However, the majority seemed to express dissatisfaction at the salaries they were offered — between SR1,000 and SR1,200 in the construction business. Some laborers said they had been earning five times more in the past.
Surinder Bhagat, second secretary of politics and commerce at the Indian Embassy, said 100,000 workers have rectified their status so far in both Riyadh and Jeddah. He added that his embassy is ready to correct the status of any number of Indian laborers in the coming few days.
Muhammad Mizan, second secretary at the Bangladesh Embassy, said it is difficult to determine the exact number of Bangladeshi laborers whose status has so far been corrected. He added that the campaign presents an excellent opportunity for illegal Bangladeshi workers to rectify their status and work in the Kingdom.
Speaking about the Egyptian experience, Amro Imad Al-Najdi, an official at the Egyptian Embassy’s labor section, said two meetings have been held between illegal workers and a number of major Saudi companies. He added that this has resulted in rectifying the status of a great number of them and that the campaign is a brilliant opportunity for employment and recruitment.