The Ministry of Human Resources has established a terrible image and reputation in Saudis’ hearts and minds for its failed plans and policies.
The Ministry, currently under Minister Ahmed Suleiman Al-Rajhi, is facing a torrent of Saudi accusations of obstructing development.
Minister Ahmed Al-Rajhi is accused of failure and fraud, money laundering, and lawsuits in Arab countries.
Saudi Leaks monitored the most prominent failed policies of the Ministry of Human Resources:
Its plans and projects do not fit the Saudi reality.
It immunizes foreign companies from localization.
The Ministry failed to examine foreign certificates.
It ignores localization and Saudization of jobs.
Refrain from nationalizing the leadership positions.
It does not provide qualifying jobs for Saudis.
It provides extensive facilities for foreigners to the Saudis.
It provides excellent facilities for foreigners and makes it difficult for Saudi youth.
It continues to grant visas for foreigners to work in the Kingdom.
It ignores law enforcement on foreign offenders.
Its laws give foreign companies flimsy arguments for separating the Saudis.
A symbol of corruption
Saudi tweeters and activists have previously launched a campaign on Twitter to demand the dismissal of Minister Al-Rajhi, one of the symbols of the Al Saud regime’s corruption.
Under the hashtag #DismisRajhi, the campaign participants attacked Al-Rajhi for years of failures to end unemployment rates and the loss of the job Saudization file.
Despite the expatriate workers leaving due to the weak economy, the increase in fees for their residency, the high cost of living, and the strict application of the Saudization policy, the Kingdom has not succeeded in reducing unemployment rates.
Official Saudi data revealed a record high unemployment rate among Saudi male citizens during the first quarter of 2020.
The presence of more than a million unemployed Saudis is an expression of the disappearance of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s promises to reduce the increase in unemployment.
The Saudi General Authority for Statistics data showed that Saudi citizens’ unemployment rate reached 11.8 per cent in the first quarter of 2020.
The data indicated that the unemployment rate for Saudi males reached 5.6 per cent.
The unemployment rate for Saudi women was 28.2 per cent.
It is noteworthy that foreign workers constitute 76 per cent of the Saudi labour market, and the number of foreign workers in the Kingdom reached 10.22 million foreign workers at the end of 2019.
The number of workers in the labour market, Saudis and non-Saudis, is 13 million and 635 thousand and 612 people.
And among them, 3, 203, 423 Saudis, including 2,660, 553 males, and 1,136,870 females.
According to official data, 1,150,820 Saudis suffer from unemployment, including 186,969 males and 828,851 females, which confirms the job Saudization programs’ failure.
The Kingdom is facing its worst economic downturn this year in light of the Coronavirus pandemic, which has weakened global demand for crude oil.
The imposition of exorbitant financial fines and government policies based on a record level of taxes are among the main reasons for the increase in unemployment rates in the Kingdom.