By Anna Valmero
QUEZON CITY, METRO MANILA— At least a half a million overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in will lose their jobs after the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia implements a six-year cap on working permits issued to foreign workers, a labor group said.
The so-called “Saudization” plan is intended to favor Saudi nationals over expatriate workers when it comes to job opportunities.
“If implemented, this will affect thousands of OFWs who have been staying in Saudi for more than six years. Some 60 percent of the 1.2 million OFWs in Saudi are re-hires,” said John Leonard Monterona, regional coordinator of OFW group Migrante in the Middle East.
Under the said scheme, a Saudi-based company must employ a workforce with at least 10 percent that are Saudi nationals.
Monterona added the Saudi government is taking action to curb rising unemployment among locals. “Saudi Arabia would be the first in the Middle East to implement a limit on the stay of foreign workers,” he said.
In Asia, South Korea and Japan have already imposed a similar cap on foreign workers.
At present, the hiring of OFWs for domestic helper jobs in Saudi have been temproraily suspended after numerous cases of abuses and labor malpractice were reported.
Monterona said the Philippine government needs to develop the local economy by implementing genuine agrarian reform program and “nationalization” of basic industries instead of relying largely on foreign investors.
Reports indicate there are about 10 million expatriate workers in Saudi Arabia employed in various trades such as construction, telecommunications, service sectors, domestic workers, among others.
Majority of the migrant workers are from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and the Philippines.
