The Saudi government fired more than 7000 expatriates working in ministries and state departments this year, new statistics published by local media reveal.
The sackings are legal under Saudi legislation that allows a qualified national to apply for a foreign workers’ position within a government service.
The job losses also come during a controversial push to reduce the number of illegal workers in the kingdom, although none of the sacked government workers are believed to have been illegally hired.
During a six-month amnesty that allowed illegal expatriate workers to rectify their status or leave the kingdom, 1m went home, while the government said more than 150,000 have been deported since the amnesty ended on November 3.
There are 8.5m foreign workers in the kingdom – almost one-third of the total population.
Health and higher education government ministries had the highest number of foreign employees, with 54,062 and 14,195, respectively, according to Arab News.
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