Saudi Arabia to nationalize 28,000 government jobs by 2020

Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Civil Service has started the first phase of Saudization in the public sector, aiming to nationalize at least 28,000 jobs across all sectors by 2020, deputy minister Abdullah Bin Ali Al-Malfi said in a statement on Wednesday.

The ministry aims to gradually replace expatriates with Saudis in government jobs, and has held various workshops in order to create a plan to do so.

Currently, government jobs in the healthcare and higher education industries have the highest concentration of foreigners because the rapid expansion of these sectors did not allow for the training of specialists in these fields, Al-Malfi said.

The government, therefore, is now prioritizing the Saudization of these sectors, he added.

However, some government agencies will still be able to employ foreigners as specialists and consultants in healthcare and for some ranks and specialties at universities, Al-Malfi noted.