Big drop in Saudization rate in kingdom’s public sector

The Saudi Ministry of Civil Service reported the rate of Saudization in the public sector decreased by 83 percent in comparison to the previous fiscal year, Al-Watan daily reported.

A source said there were only 111 positions Saudized during the current fiscal year compared to 656 positions during the last fiscal year.

“Two years ago, 1,782 jobs were Saudized. There was a decrease of 93.8 percent in the following year. This year, only 66 Saudi men and 45 Saudi women were employed in the public sector to replace non-Saudis,” said the source.

The source also said 90 of the newly employed Saudis were in the health sector.

“There were 50 Saudi men and 40 Saudi women employed in the health sector; 17 Saudis were employed as faculty members, 12 of them were men and five women. A total of 2,393 employment contracts of non-Saudis were terminated,” said the source.

The source said during the year 794 non-Saudis were hired by government departments.

This article was first published by Saudi Gazette on November 20, 2016.