The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is working to implement its strategic plans to enhance nationalization in the labor market and create job opportunities for Saudi men and women in various sectors. The goal of these plans is to make the most of the skills and experience of Saudi citizens, to eliminate unemployment. These efforts come as part of the state’s support to combat unemployment and achieve the main goals of (Saudi Vision 2030).
Over the decades, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has continuously focused on the nationalization of jobs, which is in line with Article 28 of the Basic Law of Governance, which states that “the state facilitates areas of work for everyone who can work, and establishes regulations that protect both the worker and the employer.” . Within the framework of this policy, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has launched many initiatives and strategies to promote the localization of jobs and professions, to strengthen the national economy, and provide sustainable job opportunities for its citizens.
Since the start of the Fourth Development Plan between 1985 and 1989, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has worked to implement strategies to localize jobs. This plan included calls to replace foreign workers with local workers and tighten immigration laws. Since then, Saudi Arabia has launched several initiatives and strategies to promote the localization of professions.
These initiatives included the localization of jobs in vital sectors such as construction, education, health, communications, technology, and financial services. As part of these efforts, a minimum percentage of Saudis in companies and fines were imposed on companies that do not adhere to nationalization standards.
Given the importance of the localization of professions in strengthening the national economy and their benefit to citizens, localization has become an essential part of the goals of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030. In this context, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman emphasized the vision’s goal of reaching an unemployment rate of 7% in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia by 2030.
Since the announcement of this vision, Saudi Arabia has witnessed the launch of a set of initiatives to motivate companies in the private sector to employ Saudis. Several programs have also been developed aimed at promoting the localization of jobs and professions in various sectors.
At the beginning of 2018, the relevant ministry in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia announced plans to nationalize 12 sectors starting in the Hijri year 1440. This step aims to provide more than 200,000 job opportunities for Saudi men and women throughout the Kingdom. In addition, it was encouraged to open attractive investment opportunities for Saudis in these sectors, which contributes to reducing unemployment rates in the country.
At that time, the sectors that were resettled included watch stores, eyeglass stores, medical device and equipment stores, electrical and electronic appliance stores, car spare parts stores, construction and construction materials stores, carpet stores of all kinds, car and motorcycle stores, and ready-made home and office furniture stores. Ready-made clothing stores, children's clothing, men's supplies, household utensils stores, and sweets stores. The goal of this step was to provide job opportunities for Saudi men and women in these sectors and achieve the goals of job nationalization.
In 2018, the Saudi Council of Ministers approved the establishment of the Saudization Agency, which is concerned with facilitating the employment of Saudis in the private sector. This agency analyzed data on citizens seeking work and those qualified to work in various sectors and professions, to implement the nationalization process in a gradual manner that is compatible with qualifications.
During the same year, the Emiratisation Agency affiliated with the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development announced the conclusion of strategic agreements and partnerships with 18 government and private entities. These partnerships aimed to localize 11 new sectors in the Kingdom.
Since that time, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has expanded the scope of the nationalization of professions, with more recent decisions including the nationalization of new professions such as project management, procurement professions, and professions within the food and drug sector. This expansion played a major role in increasing the number of Saudis working in the private sector.
In 2022, the Saudi Minister of Human Resources and Social Development, Engineer Ahmed bin Sulaiman Al-Rajhi, stated that Saudi Arabia’s nationalization programs had an effective role in reducing the unemployment rate to 9.7%. He also pointed out that the number of Saudis working in the private sector exceeded 2.2 million people, in addition to achieving an increase in the rate of women’s economic participation, which reached 35.6%.
According to the Saudi Press Agency, since the launch of the first version of the Saudization program until the beginning of this year 2023, 39 decisions have been issued to Saudize several activities and professions in the Kingdom.
Until the second quarter of this year, Saudi Arabia witnessed a decline in the unemployment rate, recording 8.3% compared to 9.7% in the same period last year. This improvement comes close to achieving the government goals set in “Vision 2030,” which aims to reach an unemployment rate of 7%. This progress is due to a series of programs, initiatives, and government decisions aimed at localizing several jobs in various sectors as part of labor market reforms.
From the beginning of the year until last September, the Ministry announced the launch of several major programs, including “Generosity,” “Job Loyalty,” “Doom,” the national training campaign “Waad,” the “Jadeer” program, the national platform for social responsibility, and the Guidance and Guidance Initiative. Professionalism in schools, and the “instant calculation” initiative. These programs and initiatives come within the framework of the Ministry’s efforts to support the localization of professions and benefit from local expertise, to strengthen the national economy.
To enhance companies’ commitment to Emiratisation decisions, the Ministry launched several initiatives, including a self-assessment program for establishments, a targeted inspection system, and a compliance guide for employers. These initiatives aim to enhance commitment to Emiratisation and improve the efficiency of the labor market. Field supervision teams operating in various regions of the Kingdom play a continuous role in following up and monitoring the labor market to ensure that these procedures are implemented effectively.
To support the private business sector and help it localize jobs, Saudi Arabia provides a set of incentives and support. This includes facilitating the process of searching for suitable employees, supporting training and qualification, recruitment processes and ensuring career continuity, in addition to the support and employment programs provided through the Human Resources Development Fund. These initiatives aim to enhance the private sector's capabilities to employ Saudi citizens
