The government of Saudi Arabia has announced plans that could see expatriate workers in the kingdom have their time limited to a maximum of six years.
The expat worker reform will see a cap placed on the amount of time expats can spend working in the country, at this point believed to be six years.
The plans were revealed by the Saudi Arabia labour minister Adel Fakieh, and it is primarily being implemented to create more work for native Saudis.
However, it is not yet clear if the new time cap will apply to all expatriates in Saudi Arabia, or if it will apply only to certain jobs. It’s also unclear as to when exactly the plan will be brought into effect.
Unemployment in the kingdom is the main concern on the Labour Minister’s mind, who told Arab newspaper al Hayat; “The current situation calls for strong cooperation between the government and private sector in solving the problem of unemployment with hundreds of thousands looking for work.”
It is thought that around 10.5 percent of the Saudi population are currently unemployed, and this is a issue within the Saudi government. Previous efforts to solve the unemployment problem include the ‘Saudisation’ scheme which set quotas for the amount of natives private firms must employ.
It’s expected that Mr Fakieh will release a statement detailing the exact plans later on this week.