In an effort to raise the proportion of skilled labor and bridge the skills gap in the market, the Ministry of Labor is moving to restructure private sector jobs with low salaries.

The ministry will begin taking practical steps to raise the proportion of skilled labor and find more attractive jobs for Saudis to encourage them to enter the labor market, sources were quoted as saying by local media on Monday.

The move is to put a control on unskilled foreign labor in the market, which has a limited presence of Saudi nationals, thanks to low wages offered by employers.

Al-Mansour Al-Shathri, chairman of the Human Resources Committee at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Riyadh, was quoted as saying that the current business model in the market and the structure of prices, services and products is built on the foundation of the use of inexpensive labor.

“Hopefully, the coming years will see an adjustment of this structure among companies and services so that there is less reliance on unskilled labor and more payment of appropriate salaries so as to attract more Saudis.”

Al-Shathri said rationalization is required in the recruitment of cheap and unskilled foreign labor, with greater emphasis on relying on modern methods of production and employing Saudis in a good working environment.

Reports indicate Saudi laborers receive the lowest wages, as compared to their Gulf and European counterparts. The Saudi male earns on average SR6,400, while the Gulf male and European male earns on average SR15,200 and SR23,600 respectively.

Saudi women also earn lower wages with SR3,900, as compared to SR8,700 earned by Gulf women on average, and SR15,000 earned by European woman.

Saudis make up 10 percent of the labor market. Out of 200,000 jobs created annually in the labor market, Saudis account for not more than 20,000 jobs.

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