Saudi Arabia has reportedly reduced the recruiting fee for domestic workers from Kenya, Uganda and Ethiopia among a few other countries.
Saudi Arabia's Gulf News reported that the decision to review and regulate the costs, according to the country’s Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development, is aimed at ensuring fair pricing.
It has also stated that this is in line with the changing costs in the recruitment industry.
“It aligns with the ministry’s broader goals to develop all services, improve the labour market environment and enhance its appeal,” reads the article by Gulf News.
In the revised fees, Kenya’s hiring fee has been reduced from SR10,870 (Sh464,199) to SR9,000 (Sh384,341) while for Uganda from SR9,500 to SR8,300 (and Ethiopia from SR6,900 to SR5,900.
Other countries affected are the Philippines which has been cut from SR15,900 to SR14,700, Sri Lanka from SR15,000 to SR13,800 and Bangladesh from SR13,000 to SR11,750.
It has further reported that the Ministry set the upper limit for recruiting domestic workers from Sierra Leone and Burundi at SR7,500, and SR10,000 from Thailand, exclusive of the value-added tax (VAT).
The ministry has previously instructed licensed recruitment companies and offices to establish upper limits for the costs of recruiting domestic workers from specific nationalities, it says.
“It reflects the ministry’s commitment to periodically reviewing costs, services, and systems in response to economic changes, ensuring they are appropriately aligned,” the article added.
The recruitment of domestic workers to Saudi Arabia started way back in 1998 and to date the agencies have increased from five to 600.
Labor Cabinet Secretary Florence Bore said that currently, over 200,000 Kenyans are working in Saudi Arabia, 70 per cent of them are under-skilled while the remaining 30 per cent are semi-skilled professionals.
Bore said the government has been able to do away with rogue recruitment agencies of domestic workers destined for Saudi Arabia.
“We have been able to reduce the number of recruitment agencies from 900 to between 500- 600, and we want to reduce them further to about 100. We want to have the right people recruiting Kenyans to protect migrant workers,” she said.
Recently, the Ministry of Labor said it is collaborating with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to enhance safe, regular, and productive labour migration between the two countries.
