The Saudi Arabian government seems to be making jobs and expat policies on the hoof as new laws and decrees are rolled out almost weekly.
At the heart of the problem is the government and royal family’s innate fear of an Arab Spring style revolt in the country that will topple them from power.
Saudi Arabia has spent millions of dollars on education but failed to provide the well-paid jobs these young, intelligent and qualified workforce needs.
Instead, the country has 9 million expat workers running the nation’s public and private sectors with a relatively few high-ranking Saudi’s sitting on top making the big decisions.
In a bid to change this, the government is weeding out unqualified expats who hold jobs that Saudis could do – but is still running in to problems.
Saudi women unwilling to work
At the end of 2013, the international school system ground to a halt when unqualified expat teachers were banned from working without a licence, only for the government to back down after several weeks of deadlock.
Meanwhile, women fashion business owners want an exemption for expat women to work in lingerie shops. Most business sectors have quotas for expat staff, and exceeding the quota results in fines and penalties.
However, Saudi women are not willing to work in lingerie stores and many shops are closing.
Jobs in other industries, like healthcare, teaching, childcare and cleaning may also open to expat women as the government has disclosed not enough Saudi women wish to take the posts.
According to a draft plan prepared by the Ministry of Labour there are not enough suitably qualified Saudi women for all the positions available.
New limits on working visas
The government has also appealed worldwide for 3,500 doctors, nurses and healthcare workers.
Adverts for the posts have gone to several mainly Muslim countries, like Pakistan, Egypt and India.
Another example is a cap on the length of time an expat can work in Saudi Arabia is rumoured to be on the way. The rules are expected to limit work visas to eight years and to place restrictions on family members going to the country, including children.
The system under review will call for employers to be allocated a number of points for employing expats. Bringing spouses and children to the country and earning salaries over a certain level will score points and limit expat numbers working in Saudi Arabia.
The government says the average expat stay is seven years, so the restriction will not affect jobs or businesses – which begs the question why the rules are needed?
