Saudi Arabia Loosens Controversial Curbs on Foreign Workers

  • Changes chip away at the ‘kafala’ system for labor market
  • Further reforms being studied for 3.7 million domestic workers
Photographer: Simon Dawson/Bloomberg
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Saudi Arabia will remove several controversial restrictions on foreign workers in a labor policy overhaul that officials hope will attract overseas talent and reduce citizen unemployment.

Non-Saudis will no longer need their employer’s permission to change jobs, travel abroad or leave the country permanently, according to Sattam Alharbi, a deputy minister at the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development.