1. The New Paradigm for Employment
Minister of Labor, HE Adel M. Fakeih
25/01/2011 at 14:15
Key Bullets
Takeaway
 Saudi Arabia’s growing workforce population as well as the increase in female
participation in the workforce will cause major unemployment problems in Saudi
Arabia in the coming 20 years time.
 The government is considering a wide array of options in preempting this problem.
Issues (Main Talking Points)
• In the next 20 years, there will be a need for 5 million new jobs for the new workforce
• The jobs needed will be high salary jobs with wages over SAR 4,000 a month
• Jobs need to provide real skills for Saudi nationals
Recommendations
 The minister outlined three main ways to solve these problems:
1) Focus on job intervention policies on jobs that are “Saudizable” (industries
where Saudis want to work)
a. Create positive incentives, rather than quotas and regulations
b. Reward “good” (with high levels of Saudization) companies
2) Change and create economic activities and opportunities that create high
salary jobs
a. Educational improvement
b. Better management practices for talent development and operational
streamlining
c. Supportive regulatory and policy reforms
3) Increase nationals’ participation in the private sector by creating an equal
playing field and by restoring fair competition between nationals and expats
a. Partial removal of subsidies for non-Saudis
b. Equalization of employment rules between public and private sectors
The New Paradigm for Employment_Notes_25 Jan 2011 © 2010 Monitor Company Group, L.P. — Confidential