Will Riyadh's efforts to Saudize workforce reduce unemployment?
Saudi Arabia’s quest for regional economic leadership sheds light on the largest reserve of citizens in the Gulf Cooperation Council, reigniting debate over localization policies.
Foreigners make up a very high percentage of the population of the Gulf states, reaching about 88% in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.
However, the situation is not uniform throughout the region. In Saudi Arabia, about 21.5 million citizens make up more than 60% of the total population of some 35 million.
The public sector has been the primary employer of Saudi citizens for decades. But a paradigm shift is underway as a result of population growth and the threat of stagnation or gradual decline of oil revenues, the state’s current major source of income.
Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, announced plans to jump-start labor-intensive industries and for what it termed "Saudizing" jobs in others. It aims at tackling a high unemployment rate — 11.7% in the first quarter of 2021 — by offering enticing private-sector job opportunities to more than 250,000 young Saudis who enter the workforce every year.
