The “Saudization” of the workforce haunts Egyptian expats working in Saudi Arabia. It is difficult to determine when the term Saudization first emerged, but it seems to be extensively used in the media now, following the announcement of the Saudi Vision 2030 reform plan on April 25, 2016.

In Egypt on Jan. 16, the Supreme Administrative Court invalidated the maritime border demarcation agreement between Egypt and Saudi Arabia, denying Saudi Arabia sovereignty over the islands of Tiran and Sanafir in the Red Sea. This ruling seems to have brought to the surface Saudization measures against the Egyptian workforce in Saudi Arabia.

The Saudi Vision 2030 is a package of economic reforms and social policies, including mainly the nationalization of jobs to reduce reliance on foreign expats and the assignment of these jobs to Saudi nationals to curb the unemployment rate to 7%.

It seems that the Supreme Administrative Court's ruling was not the only reason behind renewed talk about Saudization of the workforce. The tensions prevailing over Saudi-Egyptian relations since October 2016 sparked fears among the Egyptian workforce in Saudi Arabia of nationalization of Saudi jobs or of discriminatory measures against Egyptian expats due to the political unrest.