Within the next three years, all government jobs will need to be occupied by Saudi nationals only.
14 May 2017
| Last updated on 20 June 2017
Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Civil Service has requested that all government departments terminate any contracts they have with expat employees. This has to be implemented within the next three years.
This move comes as the Kingdom focuses on implementing the job nationalisation plan, also known as Saudisation, by 2020.
At this time, there are about 70,000 expats working the public sector.
In line with the Kingdom’s 2030 Vision, they’ve been trying to increase employment opportunities for Saudi nationals.
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Other Saudisation measures
Last month, Saudi’s Ministry of Labour and Social Development passed an order blocking expats from working in shopping malls.
So far, there has been no details shared on how this will be implemented nor how many expats this affects.
By the end of 2015, there was nine million expats in Saudi. With the new Saudisation measures, the future of many of them remain uncertain.
Things are becoming increasingly difficult for expats in KSA.
Starting from July 2017, a new fee for expats’ dependants will be implemented and it needs to be paid in advance during the residency visa process.
The annual fee will start at SAR100 for each dependant. Then it will keep increasing for the following three years: SAR200 in 2018, SAR300 in 2019 and SAR400 in 2020.
