Restaurants to be categorised soon

Restaurants in Saudi Arabia will be divided into five categories within three months for better monitoring and creating more job opportunities, Adel Makki, who heads the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry Hospitality Committee, was quoted as saying by Al-Madinah Arabic daily on Saturday.

“The categories are: Gourmet food restaurants, fast food restaurants, traditional food restaurants, cafes and those that serve both gourmet and fast food,” he said.

The categorization will help better monitoring of the restaurants and will help ensure quality of service, said Makki.

He also said the categorization will enable the Ministry of Labor to have accurate statistics on the rate of Saudization in the hospitality industry.

“The Saudization rate in the hospitality industry is low due to the lack of training and awareness. Cafes and fast food restaurants are the most popular among Saudi applicants and job seekers. Around 60 percent of the Saudi applicants applying for positions in the private hospitality industry apply for jobs in cafes and fast food restaurants,” said Makki.

An owner of a fast food chain said that most Saudis prefer to apply for jobs in fast food restaurants because they do not require any special skills or specialties.

“Fast food is easy to prepare. The minimum wage can vary from SR4,000 or SR7,000 depending on the work experience and position of the employee,” said the owner.

He said the fast food industry is very large with investment capital of SR17 billion and revenue of SR7.5 billion.

“There are 17,000 fast food restaurants in the Kingdom. It is a growing and popular industry with a lot of young people in it. The Ministry of Labor needs to appreciate the fast food industry and invest in the training of its employees,” said the owner.