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Saudi Arabia has announced new plans to ease restrictions on hiring foreign workers and improve the controversial sponsorship system in place for seven decades.
The plans, which will be implemented in March 2021, aim to make Saudi Arabia’s job market more attractive, according to the deputy human resources minister, by granting foreign workers the right to change jobs and leave the country without the employer’s authorization.
“Through this initiative, we aim to build an attractive labor market and improve the working environment through the main services … accessible to all expatriate workers in the private sector,” added Abdullah bin Nasser Abu Thunayn.
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which this year chairs the group of major G20 economies known as the G20, is looking to boost its private sector, and this is part of an ambitious plan to diversify its oil-dependent economy. .
This step will help – says Abu Thnain – to attract highly skilled workers and achieve the goals of Vision 2030.
This vision is a set of economic and social policies designed to free the kingdom from dependence on oil exports.
The current sponsorship system obliges a migrant worker to work for a single employer. Human rights groups, including Amnesty International (Amnesty), have called on the Saudi authorities to abolish this system, which makes workers vulnerable to abuse.
The new initiative will establish the relationship between employers and workers on the basis of a contract that must be approved by the government and will allow workers to apply directly to get what they want from the services through the e-government portal, at the place of employer’s approval, which was mandatory.
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