RIYADH: The number of work permits issued to private sector employees in Saudi Arabia reached about 24.3 million in the last three years.
Professional services and engineering accounted for about 45 percent of the issued licenses.
According to statistics issued by the Ministry of Labor and Social Development, 2016 witnessed a decline in the number of licenses issued by 3 percent, with 8.25 million licenses issued, compared with 8.52 million work permits issued in 2015. In 2014, 7.52 million work permits were issued and renewed, Al-Eqtisadiah reported.
Foreign workers in Riyadh, Makkah and the Eastern Province registered the highest number of work permits, up by 65 percent over the past three years.
The ministry announced the prohibition of issuing permanent, temporary or seasonal work visas for a number of professions in the Saudi market, as well as preventing new licenses from being issued to a number of other professions, which are now prohibited for expatriate workers in the Kingdom.
The ministry halted renewing licenses of registered expatriates to jobs restricted to Saudis, and obliged the enterprises not to transfer labor services to them.
Nineteen professions have been dedicated to Saudi-only employees. These professions include senior human resources managers in government and private establishments; director of personnel; director of labor and workers affairs in enterprises; director of personnel relations; as well as personnel specialist.
The list of prohibited professions also included personnel clerk; employment clerk; attendance time clerk; general receptionist; hotel receptionist; patient receptionist; complaint clerk; treasurer; private security guard; interpreter; transcriber or key repairman; clearing agent; as well as female workers in the shops selling women’s supplies.
The ministry explained that “this comes in light of the government’s orientation by the leadership to place Saudis in the jobs in which expatriates work, in order to Saudize jobs with national competencies.”
24.3 million Saudi work permits issued for private sector employment in 3 years
24.3 million Saudi work permits issued for private sector employment in 3 years
Saudi defense minister receives Mukalla port director, thanks him for heroic role
- Prince Khalid thanked Basamir for his heroic and humanitarian role in ensuring safety and protecting lives and property at the port
RIYADH: Saudi Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman received the director of the Port of Mukalla Salem Basamir on Tuesday.
In a post on social media platform X, Prince Khalid thanked Basamir for his heroic and humanitarian role in ensuring safety and protecting lives and property at the port.
The Coalition to Support Legitimacy in Yemen carried out a limited airstrike in December targeting foreign military support at the Port of Mukalla in the Hadramaut governorate, where calm has been restored after a period of tension.
In a statement carried by the Saudi Press Agency following the strikes, coalition spokesman Major General Turki Al-Maliki said two ships coming from the port of Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates entered the Port of Mukalla without obtaining official permits from the Joint Forces Command of the Coalition.
“The crews of the two ships disabled their tracking systems and unloaded a large quantity of weapons and combat vehicles to support the Southern Transitional Council forces in the eastern governorates of Yemen (Hadramaut and Al-Mahra) with the aim of fueling the conflict. This is a clear violation of the truce and the pursuit of a peaceful solution, as well as a violation of UN Security Council Resolution No. 2216,” said the spokesman.
