Saudi Arabia Imposes Quotas to Boost Local Hiring

Halah Alduhaylib strolls among the recruiting stands at a June 5-8 jobs fair in Riyadh where 10,000 positions are available. “This is my second fair this week. It’s a great chance for me,” she says. With a master’s in computing from Britain’s Manchester Metropolitan University, the 28-year-old Saudi is well-placed to benefit from the kingdom’s recent decision to reduce unemployment, a cause of unrest in many Middle Eastern countries, by forcing companies to hire more locals. That’s why at this jobs fair, only Saudis need apply.

That’s quite a change in this oil-rich country, where 9 out of 10 nongovernment employees are foreigners from the rest of the Mideast, the Philippines, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and even the West. Non-Saudi residents handle everything from child care to hotel management to complex engineering projects. Because foreigners generally work longer hours, have more training, and will accept much less than the average pay scale for citizens, employers usually hire them. Six million foreigners work in Saudi Arabia, where one out of three residents is foreign-born.