More than 1.9 million Saudis entered the private sector in 2021, the official Saudi Press Agency reported.
Saudi Arabia, alongside other Gulf nations, have begun a nationalisation drive to get more locals in the private sector who have long opted for jobs in the public sector, leaving the countries to rely on cheap foreign labour to fill out the private sector.
Creating jobs for Saudi nationals is a core component of the kingdom’s Vision 2030 economic diversification agenda.
The number of Saudis working in the country’s private sector rose during the third quarter of 2021 to nearly a quarter of the total workforce.
The National Labour Observatory (NLO) said that the localisation percentage increased to 23.59 percent, up by 0.96 percent compared to the previous quarter.
Approximately 37 percent of the Saudi population is under the age of 14 and those under age 25 account for around 51 percent of the population. Creating jobs for the massive youth population is one of the biggest challenges the country faces.
Unemployment among citizens in the second quarter of 2021 fell to its lowest level in a decade after hitting a record 15 percent last year, when Covid-19 set back the ambitious Vision 2030 plan to transform the conservative kingdom into a regional business and tourism hub.
But Saudi workers are now visible everywhere, delivering packages, serving espresso and moving oil rigs.
To keep unemployment steady, the kingdom must create 150,000 jobs per year over the next decade, according to Bloomberg Economics.
*with Bloomberg
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