Labor Market and the Job Nationalization Policy: A Trajectory of Hospitality and Tourism Strategy in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Saudi Arabia has a long history of dependence on foreign workers at all levels within their private sector economies. Saudi Arabia, along with Gulf states such as the UAE, are now pursuing active policies of nationalization within their labor markets in an effort to reduce dependence on foreign labor and engage the national population more actively in the workforce. The purpose of this paper is to present the latest issues relating to job nationalization in the Saudi Arabian labor market. The Saudi Arabian government, in this context, acts to ensure that certain quotas of Saudi national employees are required of private businesses in accordance with the size of their workforce as well as their performance in the field of the economy where they are located. This paper attempts to review the strategy of job nationalization known as “Saudization” and elaborate on the “Nitaqat” scheme. The discussion addresses policy procedures and highlights various impediments that exist in their implementation process. This paper extends the work of other researchers by focusing on the job nationalization policy in Saudi Arabia, and especially on discussion of the “Saudization” policy and the “Nitaqat” scheme in the context of the hospitality and tourism sector.