HRSD ministry says updated "Nitaqat" program to protect Saudi employees from manipulation

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The updated "Nitaqat" program aims to protect the Saudi employees from any potential manipulation and misuse of the system by some establishments, Al Riyadh newspaper reported, citing Riyadh Alabdulkareem, General Manager of Labor Market Policies at the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development (HRSD).

In a workshop titled "the updated Nitaqat program", organized virtually by Asharqia Chamber, Alabdulkareem added that some companies seek to hire the young Saudis to hit the target localization rates and then dismiss them.

Thus, the localization rate is calculated after 26 weeks to protect the Saudi employees, he said.

The official indicated that the delay in calculating localization is to safeguard the system from any manipulation; hence, it is calculated at specific intervals.

The program redistributes expat workers among the establishments committed to the localization rates, which contributes to adding more balance to the labor market.

In May, HRSD ministry launched the updated "Nitaqat" program, which will be applied as of December 2021, Argaam earlier reported.