The Saudi Ministry of Labor and Social Development continues to move aggressively to implement its goal to Saudize the telecom sector – specifically workers in mobile telephone shops – by September 2, 2016. Minister Mofrej Al-Haqbani had previously stated that, “We have no intention of postponing the implementation of the decision or extending the grace period given to mobile shop owners. There will not be any expatriates in the sector after the Sept. 2 deadline. All employees of the sector will be Saudi men and women.”
In pursuit of this goal the Ministries of Interior, Commerce and Investment, Municipal and Rural Affairs and Communication and IT along with the Ministry of Labor and Social Development have urged employers to comply with the directive.
Close to 26,000 inspections have been done with 22,413 shops complying with the new rules.
Gulf News reports that 1,950 mobile shops have been shut down with another 883 warned of permanent closure if they do not comply.
According to Ministry of Labor and Social Development statistics Makkah had the largest number of closures with 508 followed by Asir (499), Eastern Province (203), Madinah (195), Qassim (165) and Riyadh (84).
Fahad Al-Owaidi, Deputy Minister of Labor for Inspection and Development of Work Environment noted that the directive not only creates opportunities for Saudi males and females but also reduces the number of ‘cover-up’ businesses staffed by foreign laborers.
Meanwhile, in cooperation with the Technical and Vocational Training Corporation, the labor ministry has trained 27,983 Saudi males and females in the telecommunication sector. The trainees spent 25,300 hours in apprenticeship over three months.
