Saudis Bemoan Soaring Labor Costs After Migrant Exodus

The old adage applies: Be careful what you wish for. Saudis complained about the high percentage of foreigners in their country, and demanded more jobs for the hundreds of thousands of young Saudis entering the labor market each year. So the government started cracking down on migrants without documentation, diligently enforcing labor laws. Construction, landscape, retail and other willing workers no longer linger in public spaces in search of short-term work. Saudis must instead “turn instead to authorised service companies, which charge double the rate or more to hire out electricians or plumbers,” reports an article for AFP. “Those considered illegal range from overstaying visitors and pilgrims who seek jobs, to shop assistants and day labourers working for someone other than their official sponsor, a requirement in Saudi Arabia as in most other Gulf states.” Migrants from Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan and other nations have taken advantage of a brief amnesty period and left the country and the result has been doubling of the labor cost. – YaleGlobal