How should policymakers in the Gulf states manage their countries’ large expatriate workforces? In Saudi Arabia, foreign nationals account for roughly one-third of the population. In Qatar and the UAE, nine out of every ten residents is an expatriate. Should these governments continue to invest heavily in developing indigenous labour forces, with the aim of decreasing dependency on foreign workers?

The extraordinarily high proportion of foreign labour within the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries is often considered problematic, because, as some see it, it threatens local cultures and national identities, holds down wages, and impedes the development of domestic skills and talent. With so many trades and professions dominated by relatively cheap overseas labour, the indigenous population is often left with few occupational domains offering competitive wages. These tend to be predominantly in the public sector, where oil revenues are used to maintain high pay and attractive working conditions.

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