KSA orders owners to man SMEs themselves

“Owners” of small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) have been ordered to work for their firms full-time and register their names with the General Organization for Social Insurance.

The Labor Ministry’s new step aims at Saudizing jobs and preventing cover-up businesses.
“Saudi owners working in their own firms should not have any other jobs,” said Hattab Al-Anazi, spokesman of the ministry. He said the move was aimed at encouraging SMEs with not more than nine workers to employ Saudis.

Expats dominate the workforce in the SMEs. There are at least 250,000 SMEs with not a single Saudi worker. “Most of these firms are run by foreigners who give their real Saudi owners a specific amount annually,” Al-Anazi explained.

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