Saudi private sector ‘needs 4.1m nationals by 2030’

Saudi Arabia must employ 4.1 million Saudi nationals in the private sector by 2030 if it is to achieve its aims of nationalising the workforce and diversifying the economy, a new report claims.

Research by Oxford Consulting Group analyses the kingdom’s labour needs in the context of its Vision 2030 economic strategy.

Saudi Arabia has a domestic labour force of around 6.4 million people, Oxford’s report says, with 4.2 million in the public sector, 1.6 million in the private sector and 0.6 million unemployed.

By 2030, it states, the kingdom will have a labour force of around 8 million and wants to employ 3.4 million of these in the public sector with around 0.57 million expected to be unemployed.

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