Maid recruitment agencies raise prices

Many expat families in the Kingdom continue to express concern over the increasing price of housemaid services offered by labor recruitment agencies.
Demand continues to soar as recruitment agencies in the Kingdom face a major shortage in the number of domestic maids.
Riyadh-based labor recruitment agency Saudi Manpower Services (SMASCO), for instance, has raised prices in comparison with last year.
Employers used to pay SR1,260 per month for housemaid services, which has since risen to SR1,580.
Some agencies even insist that employers pay close to SR46,000 in salaries and admin costs in full in advance while signing a two-year contract.
Saima Qazzafi, a Pakistani mother of three in Riyadh, needs domestic help. She visited a recruitment agency and was told that there are no housemaids available for the next three months. Only housemaids from Kenya are available, who are limited in number due to high demand.
“I was shocked to find out the price of the total package, which is way too much,” she said. “I am traveling in three months and doubt I can find someone reliable by that time.”
Qazzafi then considered hiring a part time maid independent from the agency. She spoke to several Sri Lankan part-timers who are in the Kingdom on their own visas.
They charge anywhere between SR2,700 and SR3,000, she said. “They also demand SR25 per hour and the taxi fare to and from my house.”
Sameera Arshad, a housewife in Riyadh, also told Arab News of the bitter experience she had hiring housemaids from agencies. Arshad is also struggling to find domestic help since prices increased.
“Some agencies stipulate that we pay SR8,000 to SR10,000 to transfer the housemaid’s residency permit (iqama) onto my husband’s iqama”, she said. “Apart from the monthly salary, we will also be burdened with extra charges, such as iqama renewal and medical bills.”
Another labor recruitment agency in Riyadh stipulates that employers pay up in advance after signing the two-year contract without offering an installment-based payment method.
Zubda Nazir, a Pakistani housewife in Riyadh, expressed her concern over the lack of payment options after she visited the agency. Nazir is struggling during the summer holidays in Riyadh with four young children and no domestic help.
“How can we pay a lump sum that we cannot afford?” she asked. “The salaries of the heads of our families are not as high because of our nationalities. This is a major risk factor because we would be stuck with the maid we get regardless of her performance and reliability.”