Saudi Labor Market at its Historically Record Peak

The Saudi labor market reacts to wide-scale economic reforms, as Saudi employees, in the private sector, exceed 1.9 million for the 1^st time

Overall toll of Saudi nationals working in the private sector has reached about 1.9 million, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development announced.

Saudi private sector has employed about 200,000 Saudis, males and females, during the Years 2020-2021, thus registering the highest historical level for the number of Saudis, in the private sector, thanks to policies and programs launched and implemented by the ministry, based on the Kingdom’s vision 2030, to overcome the Saudi labor market’s challenges and repercussions of the pandemic, which cast a shadow on the labor markets, all over the world.

Noteworthy is that the total number of Saudis working in the private sector did not exceed 1.7 million employees, at the end of 2019, while the latest data released revealed that the number of Saudis working in the private sector until the end of the third quarter of this year, has amounted to about 1.83 million, according to the Labor Market Bulletin, issued by the General Authority for Statistics,

Following announcement that the number had reached 1.9 million Saudis by the end of 2021, the total number of Saudis joining the private sector, during the fourth quarter of this year amounted to about 70,000 Saudis, in an indication of the increase in the pace of Saudis’ employment, in the private sector, with the gradual recovery of the economy, in recent months.

The data showed that the unemployment rate among Saudis, in the third quarter of this year, decreased on an annual basis to 11.3%, compared to 14.9% in the corresponding quarter of the Year 2020, ushering in the success of labor market policies, programs and initiatives, in fighting unemployment among Saudis, while expectations indicate a decrease in the unemployment rate by the end of this year, as about 70,000 Saudis, males and females, have joined the private sector, during the fourth quarter of this year.

Policies and programs that were launched to restructure the Saudi labor market varied, including abolition of the sponsorship (Kafalah) system, improvement of the contractual relationship of foreign labor to benefit the interests of the Saudi citizen, whose competitiveness, subsequently, increased compared to the expatriate, while the firm and gradual application of them, by Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development, has led to raising Saudization rates, in many sectors, with positive results, contributing, significantly, to attracting Saudi youth in seek of jobs.

Saudization decisions launched by the ministry were characterized by realism in the selection of sectors and the gradual application, as the its decisions included the professions of dentistry, pharmacy, engineering, accounting, and the indigenization of the closed commercial complexes, cafes and restaurants, catering and central markets, localization of communications and information technology jobs, customer service. tourist accommodation, private public education (both national and international), localization of jobs, in the Al-Jouf and Hail regions, localization of real estate activities and professions, and finally, the nascent cinema sector.

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