Today in the Dubai-based newspaper The National, Gulf expert Theodore Karasik writes that Saudi Arabia is moving to provide more jobs for Saudis, and that under new King Salman, change is in the works for its troubled labor sector.
The goal to stop relying on expatriate workers and to transition to a nearly all-Saudi workforce is not a new one as the Kingdom’s Nitaqat, or Saudization, program was enacted under King Abdullah to start providing more opportunities to Saudis by curtailing use of foreign labor.
The Ministry of Labor in Saudi Arabia
However, now that Saudi Arabia has a new king, “buzzwords connected to the employment-visa regime are becoming part of the vernacular,” Karasik writes. “These words include Musaned, the Saudi labour ministry’s electronic portal to bridge the gap between employers and employees, and Doroob, a recently launched national program to provide ‘upskilling’ for Saudi nationals.”
What has changed about the labor crisis, Karasik writes, is the urgency about fixing the system. Under King Salman, “further change is in the works.” Although King Salman did not mention Labor directly in his wide-ranging speech given last week, Salman nevertheless “called for new programs to promote national unity and economic development. He indicated the need to provide more job opportunities in both the public and private sectors and for more medium and small enterprises.”
A recent Wall Street Journal article reported that Saudi authorities are exploring new proposals “that could limit expatriate workers to eight-year stays, discourage companies from hiring them, or give citizens a job-market edge in other ways.”
Karasik, a Dubai-based analyst on the Gulf with a specific focus on Saudi Arabia, was featured in a recent edition of SUSTG/SUSRIS co-produced FocusKSA discussion series that focused on the transition of leadership in Saudi Arabia following the death of King Abdullah to the new leadership under King Salman.
[Read the full analysis by Theodore Karasik at The National]
