Riyadh (ViaNews) – The Saudi Arabian Ministry of Labor and Social Development has launched a new service to ease the recruitment of foreign domestic workers from the Philippines in Saudi Arabia, reducing the recruitment charges for Filipino domestic workers by 50%.
Following this news, the demand for Filipino domestic workers in the Kingdom underwent an unprecedented increase, reports helperchoice.com, a leading platform that connects domestic helpers and maids to employers. Helper Choice, reports having received more than 10,000 new job adverts in less than 3 days.
In 2015, the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Labor and Social Development started facilitating the recruitment of foreign domestic workers by digitalising the process through their domestic labour recruitment website, Musaned. Employers can hire a domestic worker without the need to visit a recruitment agency. They can obtain a domestic worker e-visa in three days if they meet the financial, social and legal criteria. Today, the website processes around 90% of applications for domestic worker visas in the country.
This year, the Ministry goes one step further by launching a new service called “ Maaroufah”, which facilitates the recruitment of maids from the Philippines and has cut the charges for prospective employers to hire a Filipino maid by 50%. Under this new system, the recruitment process will usually take a maximum 45 days and enable the beneficiary to obtain a visa for a Filipino domestic worker.