Nitaqat
Nitaqat, the Localization System for Jobs in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia: cause for denial of job opportunities for expatriates
Guiding Principle
In order to reduce the unemployment rate among the Saudi citizens, the Saudi government issued a new system for the localization of jobs in Saudi Arabia under the name of “Nitaqat”. The new system replaces the system applied since 1994 under the name of “The Saudization”. Nitaqat adopts several principles, which will have impacts on non-Saudis working in the Kingdom. A. Introduction
The economy in Saudi Arabia – as it is the case in other states of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) – depends largely on the existence of a large proportion of expatriates1 working for various establishments in the private and public sector. However, unlike the other states of the GCC, Saudi Arabia has large number of unemployed citizens2, which creates a state of resentment among those citizens. B. The Saudization
In an attempt to reduce the unemployment rate among the citizens, the Saudi government applied a system in 1994 for the localization of jobs under the name of “The Saudization“. The basic principal of the system was the requirement to appoint certain percentage of the total workforce of all the establishments existing in the Kingdom from the Saudi citizens. This percentage varies in accordance to the activity of the establishment. Generally the percentage was fixed by 30%.
However, due to several reasons, the system did not achieve the desired objectives and mostly the 30% has not been reached. Now, more than 6.5 million non-Saudi are working in the private sector of the Kingdom compared to 700 thousand Saudis. In addition, more than 2 million work visas were issued during the preceding two (2) years.
C. Nitaqat
Therefore, the Saudi government has endeavoured to find other solutions to eliminate the phenomenon of unemployment among Saudi nationals. The efforts of the government resulted in the implementation of several
Guiding Principle
In order to reduce the unemployment rate among the Saudi citizens, the Saudi government issued a new system for the localization of jobs in Saudi Arabia under the name of “Nitaqat”. The new system replaces the system applied since 1994 under the name of “The Saudization”. Nitaqat adopts several principles, which will have impacts on non-Saudis working in the Kingdom. A. Introduction
The economy in Saudi Arabia – as it is the case in other states of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) – depends largely on the existence of a large proportion of expatriates1 working for various establishments in the private and public sector. However, unlike the other states of the GCC, Saudi Arabia has large number of unemployed citizens2, which creates a state of resentment among those citizens. B. The Saudization
In an attempt to reduce the unemployment rate among the citizens, the Saudi government applied a system in 1994 for the localization of jobs under the name of “The Saudization“. The basic principal of the system was the requirement to appoint certain percentage of the total workforce of all the establishments existing in the Kingdom from the Saudi citizens. This percentage varies in accordance to the activity of the establishment. Generally the percentage was fixed by 30%.
However, due to several reasons, the system did not achieve the desired objectives and mostly the 30% has not been reached. Now, more than 6.5 million non-Saudi are working in the private sector of the Kingdom compared to 700 thousand Saudis. In addition, more than 2 million work visas were issued during the preceding two (2) years.
C. Nitaqat
Therefore, the Saudi government has endeavoured to find other solutions to eliminate the phenomenon of unemployment among Saudi nationals. The efforts of the government resulted in the implementation of several