With expats out, 254,000 Saudis find work

December 15, 2013

Saudis_find_work

Riyadh, Dec 15: More than 254,000 Saudi men and women have been employed in the aftermath of the status correction phase for foreign workers, Labor Minister Adel Fakeih announced at a meeting held recently to discuss the latest developments in the Saudi labor market.

The minister pointed out that the rise in employment figures among Saudis is a result of a 25 percent decrease in foreign labor recruitment and the deportation of 1 million illegal expatriates.

“The ministry has launched a prompt visa service for companies in the platinum zone, and has allocated teams to monitor changes on a weekly basis. Moreover, around 94 percent of the ministry’s services can be conducted online,” he added.

Fakeih also said that 1.9 million citizens benefited from the ministry’s programs, 80 percent of whom are women.

“We have the right to secure jobs for women within a suitable working environment,” he said.

He also emphasized the ministry’s efforts to safeguard the rights of employees and their salaries through the wage protection program.

The minister highlighted the fact that around 90 percent of the graduates from the Technical and Vocational Training Corporation have been employed over the past five years, and 10 percent are registered with the Hafiz program.

“We should not blame the state for citizens’ wrongdoings; we should not blame the state either when citizens conspire with business owners because they don’t want a particular kind of job,” he cautioned.

He said the Ministry of Labor has a bundle of programs to provide jobs and training to citizens, including Nitaqat and Hafiz.

The labor minister also reiterated that the raids against violating expatriates would continue in accordance with the directives issued by Custodian of the Holy Mosques King Abdullah.

Fakeih announced that an electronic portal named “Together” will be launched soon. It will enable citizens and businessmen to express their opinions and views about the ministry’s performance and thereby provide direct feedback to officials.

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News Network
April 30,2020

Riyadh, Apr 30: Saudi Arabia on Thursday recorded 1,351 new coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of infections in the country to 22,753, the Ministry of Health said in a statement.

The ministry also announced 5 more deaths and 210 new recoveries, raising the total number of fatalities and recoveries to 162 and 3,163 respectively.

Riyadh with 440 cases topped the list, followed by 392 cases in Makkah, 120 in Jeddah and 119 in Madinah.

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News Network
April 28,2020

Riyadh, Apr 28: The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Saudi Arabia crossed the critical 20,000-mark on Tuesday with the discovery of 1,266 new cases. Eight new deaths were also recorded during the last 24 hours, bringing the virus-related death toll to 152.

Twenty-three percent of the new cases are of Saudi nationals, while 77 percent are of non-Saudi residents, Saudi Press Agency (SPA) quoted the ministry spokesman Dr. Muhammad Al-Abdel Ali as saying.

Out of the total 20,077 cases till Tuesday, 17,141 cases are active, he added. A total of 118 cases are currently critical, the spokesman said.

Out of the 1,266 new cases, 327 were reported in Makkah, 273 in Madinah, 262 in Jeddah, and 171 in Riyadh. There were 58 cases in Jubail, 35 in Dammam, 32 in Taif, 29 in Tabuk and 18 in Al-Zulfi. Additionally, nine cases were recorded in Khulais; eight in Buraidah; seven in Al-Khobar; five in Hufof; four each in Qatif and Ras Tanura; three in Adhum; two each in Al-Jafr, Al-Majaridah, Yanbu, Bisha and Diriyah; and one each in Abha, Khamis Mushayt, Baqeeq, Dhahran, Dhalum, Sabiya, Hafr Al Batin, Hail, Sakaka, Wadi Al-Dawasir and Sajr, the spokesman said.

The Kingdom saw a spike in cases when the health ministry began its field-testing efforts nearly two weeks ago, targeting suspected infection cluster areas. Since then, there has been a steady increase in daily cases.

Till Monday, around 1 million people were screened in various neighborhoods throughout the Kingdom.

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Agencies
July 28,2020

Dubai, Jul 28: Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank (ADCB) (ADCB.AD) is letting go hundreds of employees, sources said, the latest in a round of lay-offs by regional banks as pressure mounts to cut costs amid lower oil prices and the coronavirus crisis.

The UAE’s third-biggest lender is laying off 400 employees, two sources familiar with the matter said, after it had committed to not cutting staff because of the crisis.

In a statement, a spokesman said ADCB had pursued efficiency over the last decade by managing out its lowest underachievers after regular reviews, while ensuring talent was deployed in high-growth areas, such as digital banking.

“A certain number of redundancies are therefore expected every year in the normal course of business,” the bank spokesman added.

The sources said the cuts would involve ADCB’s consumer business and several in top management were among those being let go. One source said the bank was looking to close 20 branches.

In March, ADCB had declared, “No employee will be made redundant during 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.”

UAE banks have been hit by government measures to rein in the spread of the virus, forcing many businesses to shut temporarily.

Last week, Dubai’s largest bank, Emirates NBD, reported a slump of 58% in profits. In June, sources told Reuters the bank started a new round of hundreds of lay-offs.

In May, ADCB reported a fall of 84% in first-quarter net profit as it took impairments of $292 million on debt exposure to troubled hospital operator NMC Health and payments group Finablr.

It was a major lender, with an exposure of about $981 million, to NMC Health, which went into administration this year after months of turmoil following questions over financial reporting.

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