Riyadh plans minimum wage for nationals

Saudi Arabia plans to set minimum wage guidelines for Saudi nationals, but not for the millions of foreign workers in the Gulf oil powerhouse, the labour ministry said yesterday.

A ministry spokesman said a plan was in the works to set minimum salary targets for Saudis such as teachers or store cashiers as a part of a programme to create more jobs for citizens of one of the richest countries in the world.

Labour Minister Ghazi Al Gosaibi said wages for Saudis in the private sector were shamefully low.

"The minister's statement doesn't mean that we will force companies to accept pre-determined salaries," ministry spokesman Hattab Al Enezy said.

"But we will create guidelines for salaries suitable for the field of work."

Gosaibi said many businesses were not following closely a "Saudi-isation" programme, which requires companies to reserve a number of jobs for citizens, and criticised the wages offered to Saudis.

"I feel ashamed that there are 270,000 unemployed Saudi young men and a similar number of unemployed Saudi young women in a country that employs more than seven million foreigners," Gosaibi said, according to media reports.

"The level of wages for Saudis in the private sector is a shame," he said.

The seven million foreign workers in Saudi Arabia constitute more than a quarter of the country's total population of approximately 26 million.

Most come from much poorer countries in South and Southeast Asia, and the government is concerned that many companies are hiring foreigners who accept lower wages instead of recruiting Saudis.

Gosaibi expressed concern that the global financial crisis will send a new wave of foreign job-seekers into Saudi Arabia.

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