According to Saudi Press Agency, the Ministry of Labor and Social Development (MLSD) and the Saudi Council of Engineers (SCE) have reached an agreement to prohibit the recruitment of expatriate engineers with less than five years of professional experience.
Furthermore, the recruited expatriate engineers will have to sit a professional exam and face an interview via SCE to ensure that they are well conversant with the profession and their specializations.
Dr. Jameel Al-Baq’awi, chairman of the SCE, and Dr. Ahmed Al-Qattan, undersecretary for labor policy in the ministry, said the agreement would provide more jobs to Saudi engineers in the government and private sectors.
They emphasised the importance of expatriate engineers possessing the necessary experience in the relevant field and providing documentation to that effect. Engineers will bear the consequences of providing false information about their work experience, they added.
The agreement follows a previous SCE decision that took effect several months ago and required any expatriate recruited for work in the Kingdom to have at least three years of experience. He will also be required to sit for a professional examination and an interview.
