Saudi approves plans to hire 1.2 mln workers

The Ministry of Labor has started giving permission to six recruitment companies to issue 1.2 million visas to hire housemaids, laborers, drivers and other workers for occupations needed in the Saudi market.

A source told Okaz/Saudi Gazette: “These visas include the countries from which recruitment of workers is allowed. They include Bangladesh, India, the Philippines, Morocco, Tanzania, Uganda, Sri Lanka, Vietnam and Mauritania.”

The source disclosed that the number of applications from citizens for the recruitment of domestic workers has exceeded two million. They focused on India, Bangladesh, the Philippines, Sri Lanka and Vietnam.

The six recruitment companies will recruit domestic workers under their sponsorship and will bear the fees for medical insurance. They will then rent the workers to citizens under annual contracts of Sr 24,000 for each year that can be renewed according to agreement between the two parties. The contract fee decreases after the first year.

Recruitment from Bangladesh continues, pact with Nepal soon

An agreement will be signed within two months for the recruitment of domestic workers from Nepal, according to Tayseer Al-Mufarrij, director of the information center in the Ministry of Labor.

He also denied reports that the recruitment of workers from Bangladesh has stopped.

This story was originally reported on the Saudi Gazette on July 8, 2015.