An American website in a report emphasized the increase in the unemployment rate in Saudi Arabia failed the policies of the Saudi Crown Prince for the localization of jobs.
According to the international group Tasnim News Agency, quoting Al-Waqi Al-Saudi, “Sebastian Castler” published a report on the news analytical website “Al-Monitor” and concluded that the request of “Saudi Crown Prince” Mohammed bin Salman for “localization of jobs” in the private sector is irrational. This is because it requires a skilled and experienced workforce to achieve real growth. This approach also requires years of time and development of education in universities, otherwise companies will go bankrupt.
According to the Al-Monitor news website, Saudi youth do not have the experience to work in the private sector; Because the current level of education in Saudi universities is not at the level of information required by the private sector in Saudi Arabia.
Foreign workers make up a very high percentage of the population of the Persian Gulf countries, and in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates they make up about 88%. However, the situation is not uniform throughout the region. Many foreign workers are also active in Saudi Arabia.
The public sector has been the main employer of Saudi citizens for decades. But the paradigm shift is taking place as a result of population growth and the threat of a recession or a gradual decline in oil revenues. The Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia announced his plans to launch high-consumption industries and what he called the localization of jobs in other regions. It aims to tackle high unemployment by creating attractive private-sector job opportunities for the more than 250,000 young Saudis who enter the job market each year.
“The public sector in most countries in the Persian Gulf has reached a saturation point,” said Talib Hashem, a Dubai-based consultant.
As part of efforts to reform its economy, Saudi Arabia is using the first domestic approach to economic policy in the Gulf Cooperation Council. In July, at the height of its dispute with the United Arab Emirates over oil production quotas, Saudi Arabia announced that it would remove imported goods produced by Gulf Cooperation Council companies, which do not have a 25 percent domestic workforce, from preferential tariffs.
Analysts interpreted the move as an attempt to limit imports from the UAE, where nationals make up only a small percentage of the private sector workforce. The Persian Gulf Trade Center was Saudi Arabia’s third largest trading partner in 2019, with imports worth $ 10.3 billion.
Salman al-Ansari, a Saudi political researcher, claimed that the decision was “100 percent legal” and in the interest of the region, as it would help domestic businesses “compete fairly”. “This decision has been delayed for a long time, but it is not too late to change the course, and this encourages international companies in the GCC countries to hire more local residents,” he told Al-Monitor.
