Wages go through the roof as Indonesians out of favor

Amr Abdulwahid
Okaz/Saudi Gazette
 
JEDDAH – Falling demand for Indonesian domestic workers has led to an increased demand for Ethiopian workers, whose average monthly wage jumped to as much as SR2,000 in recent weeks.

Indonesian domestic workers have been getting bad press lately after one of them allegedly killed a little girl in Yanbu a few weeks ago.

Faisal Mohammad said he had to replace his Indonesian housemaid and driver after he discovered they were having an affair, so he recruited a Filipino who he said has given him no problems so far.

Rafid Marwan said that he let his Indonesian housemaid go after the Yanbu case because his wife could not sleep.

He considered hiring an Ethiopian worker but was shocked by the high wages of SR1,600 when he paid SR900 for his last maid.

An official source at the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce’s recruitment committee expects recruitment of Filipinos to begin after Eid.

He said the high wages of Ethiopians were due to citizens violating residency requirements by employing nationals who do not have residency permits.

He said this problem will be short-lived with the establishment of recruitment offices where any citizen can hire a house worker who is insured and for low fees.

He pointed out stopping the recruitment of Indonesians did not affect official recruitment fees, but recent events have persuaded citizens to pay high wages for other nationals who may not be legal residents.