Hiring Prices of Indonesian Housemaids Hiked

JEDDAH: Recruitment firms have increased the hiring prices of Indonesian domestic workers, exploiting the stoppage of the recruitment of the country’s maids to the Kingdom, local media said.

The rental price of an Indonesian housemaid reached SR3,500 per month together with the payment of SR7,000 as insurance to be paid back after a three-month rent period of the worker.

For their part, a number of recruitment offices said the increase of rental prices of Indonesian domestic workers was attributed to the growing demand and undersupply of these workers.

Osama Ismail, the director of a recruitment company in the Kingdom, said after the stoppage of the export of Indonesian domestic workers, recruitment firms resorted to hiring Indonesian maids already in the Kingdom.

With the increased demand for Indonesian maids, recruitment companies hiked hiring prices to SR3,500 per month with the insurance fees of SR7,000, he said.

For his part, Abdullah Al-Khaldi, director of a recruitment office, said Indonesian maids prefer being hired on a rental basis due to a number of privileges including the existence of medical insurance, good salaries and the possibility of cancelation of the contract with the customer if he violates any conditions.

Husain Al-Harthi, owner of a recruitment office, said the tendency of Indonesian maids to work with rental-based recruitment firms contributed to the increase of their number with these companies, which is currently estimated at nearly 400,000. Accordingly, the companies control their rental prices, he said.

In this context, an informed source at the Indonesian Consulate General in Jeddah said the decision of the Indonesian House of Representatives stipulates that their housemaids are allowed to continue work and renew contracts, if they expire, based on the desire of both parties to be authenticated at its embassy in Riyadh, or the consulate in Jeddah.

However, the situation of Indonesian house workers working with recruitment companies is a matter of supply and demand, the source added.

(Source: ArabNews.com)