Workforce localisation will accelerate in Saudi Arabia

Significance

However, more than half of employed Saudis work in the public sector, with their pay absorbing about 45% of the state budget. Increased employment of Saudi nationals in non-government jobs is an essential element of the Vision 2030 economic blueprint, which involves having the private sector account for 65% of GDP by the end of the decade.

Impacts

• Renewed focus on educational reform, especially in tertiary studies and vocational training, will make Saudis more attractive to employers.
• The increasing number of women joining the workforce will be primarily employed in the private sector, boosting nationalisation rates.
• Coercive policy towards employers could intensify from mid-decade as fiscal strains, and hence the need to tame the public payroll, return.