Saudi Arabia has set a minimum wage of SAR3,000 (US$800) for employees to be considered Saudi nationals under the Gulf state’s Saudisation programme, the Ministry of Labour said.
Saudi nationals earning SAR1,500 will be viewed as “half workers” under the Nitaqat programme while those earning less will not be included in saudisation quotas from February 2, Arab News reported.
The Gulf state, which is struggling to create public-sector jobs thanks to a decades-long population boom, is pushing ahead with plans to encourage more private-sector companies to reduce their foreign workforce in favour of Saudis.
Roughly nine in ten employees of private firms in Saudi Arabia are expatriates, according to official estimates. Foreign workers, mainly from South or South-East Asia, generally command lower wages than Saudi staff.
The Gulf state needs to create 3m jobs for Saudi nationals by 2015 and 6m jobs by 2030, Labour Minister Adel Al Fakieh said in January.
The world’s top oil exporter overhauled its Saudisation system in 2011, introducing the Nitaqat programme, which aimed to boost employment opportunities for Saudi nationals. Employers that do not comply with the quotas face hiring restrictions and fees.
Under the new Nitaqat system companies are categorised green, yellow or red depending on the number Saudis working for them. Companies in the “yellow” category will not be able to extend their foreign employees’ work visas beyond six years while “red” companies will not be able to renew their foreign workers’ visas at all.
“Green” companies will be entitled to a number of benefits, such as expedited services for foreign workers’ visas and the ability to change the job categories of foreign workers into job categories reserved for Saudis.
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