Many expat families in the Kingdom continue to express concern over the increasing price of housemaid services offered by labor recruitment agencies.
Demand continues to soar as recruitment agencies in the Kingdom face a major shortage in the number of domestic maids.
Riyadh-based labor recruitment agency Saudi Manpower Services (SMASCO), for instance, has raised prices in comparison with last year.Employers used to pay SR1,260 per month for housemaid services, which has since risen to SR1,580.
Some agencies even insist that employers pay close to SR46,000 in salaries and admin costs in full in advance while signing a two-year contract.Saima Qazzafi, a Pakistani mother of three in Riyadh, needs domestic help. She visited a recruitment agency and was told that there are no housemaids available for the next three months. Only housemaids from Kenya are available, who are limited in number due to high demand.