Saudi may curb recruitment of foreign tailors

Saudi Arabia: The Labor Ministry is studying proposals to stop the recruitment of foreign tailors to create more job opportunities for Saudi women in the field. The ministry also believes such a move will encourage Saudi women to invest in the sector.

“We are studying the possibility of halting the issuance of visas for tailors,” Hattab Al-Hattab, a ministry spokesman, told Arabic newspaper.
Wafa Al-Hajari of Bab Rizq Jameel, who is an expert on small-scale projects, said an increasing number of Saudi women are now interested in tailoring.

There are many reasons for this. A Saudi woman investor prefers to deal with women workers and the Human Resources Fund provides up to SR1,500 to the shopowner toward the salary of the Saudi tailor.
The Labor Ministry has so far issued about 25,000 visas for tailors over the last three years.

At present there are about 75,000 workers in the sector with an average monthly salary of SR1,000, making an annual total of SR75 million.