February 26, 2008	Tuesday	Safar 18, 1429

RIYADH, Feb 25: Saudi Arabia has announced lowering its nationalisation of workforce requirements in certain sectors.

Rising inflation and weakening dollar have now made the Gulf less attractive for job seekers in South Asia. The consequent shortage of skilled workforce has compelled Saudi Arabia to reduce the job quota for its nationals in certain sectors.

Jobs reserved for Saudis have been reduced from 30 per cent to 20 per cent in industries like foodstuff, beverages, textiles, readymade garments, shoes, furniture and paper.

The decision, however, underlines that the quota for Saudis working in such industries should not fall below 15 per cent in the first two years of operation, or three years from the date of licensing.

Deputy Minister of Labour Abdulwahed Al-Humaid said the decision to reduce the number of Saudis expected to work at these factories was necessary to fulfil labour market demands, the Saudi daily Arab News reported on Monday.

“Saudisation is a national demand, I agree, but dealing with unqualified Saudi labour in a downstream industrial project can be costly and may even prove impossible,” he said, adding that locals refuse to work in inconvenient shifts.

The government had set “Saudisation” targets making it mandatory for industries to recruit a certain minimum number of Saudi nationals to check unemployment in the kingdom where a large number of workers come from abroad.

Official statistics from the Saudi labour ministry have put the unemployment rate among Saudi men at 9 per cent and Saudi women at 23.5 per cent. According to a salary survey conductedby Arabianbusiness.com, workers from India and Pakistan are dissatisfied with their current employment terms, with 69 per cent saying they were more likely to quit jobs this year.