“Nitaqat represents an effort to introduce more incentives for companies to employ Saudis and in that sense it is an improvement on what went before,” says James Reeve, an economist at the local Samba Financial Group. “The reason you are hearing more complaints is probably because the system is being enforced with greater vigour.”
Despite the grievances, there is a widespread acknowledgement that the demographics of the kingdom’s workforce are unsustainable and that at some point Saudis need to start entering the private sector. With a national population increasing by about 500,000 a year, the Labour Ministry needs to create job opportunities in a country where nearly 30 per cent of the population is aged under 15.
