Musaad Al-Osaimi

Al-Riyadh daily Newspaper

I recently saw a disgusting video of a home delivery worker who was engaging in unhygienic practices while delivering food to a customer. He purposely captured himself on video as if he was enjoying it. This video, which was posted on social media websites, caused many to bring up the issue of the need for the Saudization of delivery worker jobs. Many restaurants hire expatriate workers to deliver food. Some of those workers are in violation of residency regulations. They have frequently been reported to engage in similar unhygienic practices.

Expatriate workers who do these jobs should be replaced by Saudis. The concerned authorities should issue orders to Saudize these jobs today, perhaps this can be done in conjunction with Uber and Careem which allow the person who orders the food to track down the delivery worker and get more information about him. The Saudization of this sector is important because it can create good job opportunities for Saudis and reduce our dependency on expatriate workers.

Unfortunately, some restaurants hire expatriates who are in violation of residency regulations as delivery workers in order to pay them low wages. Some of those illegal expats engage in illicit relationships with maids in houses where they deliver food. Some of them help maids run away from their sponsors. All of this involves security threats to our society. In fact, most restaurants in the nation’s capital do not abide by the Riyadh Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s instructions which require each delivery worker to wear the restaurant’s uniform and a label clearly showing his name and phone number.

Let me emphasize that I do not wish to generalize. Some restaurants abide fully by the instructions and the hygiene practices outlined by the authorities. However, in order to end the unhygienic practices and the potential security threats posed by some expatriate delivery workers, we need to Saudize these jobs. Saudi delivery workers are better than their expatriate counterparts and safer.