Saudi Arabia Bans Expats From 12 Job Types

In a bid to offer more jobs to Saudi nationals, the kingdom has imposed restrictions on expats from working in 12 sectors. The decision was issued by the Saudi Minister for Labor and Social Development Ali Al-Ghafees.

The main purpose behind this is to decrease unemployment rate in Saudi Arabia which is now nearing the 12% mark.

Work Areas that Are Banned

The ban on expats working in these 12 working sectors will start from September, 2018. These are mostly sales jobs which include;

Watch shops,
Optical stores,
Medical equipment stores,
Electrical and electronics shops,
Outlets selling car spare part,
Building material shops,
Outlets selling all types of carpets,
Automobile and mobile shops,
Shops selling home furniture and ready-made office material,
Sale outlets of ready-made garments,
Children clothes and men’s supplies,
Household utensils shops and pastry shops.

Unemployment in Saudi Arabia has been on the rise during the last 12 months. The Saudi economy took a major hit following a global decrease in oil prices in the recent past. All of these moves are attempts to stabilize the Kingdom’s economy. For the same purpose, Saudi authorities started a crackdown against corruption and arrested several high profile individuals.

However, almost all of the individuals arrested, which included businessmen, members of royal families etc, have been released after initial inquiries. Saudi representatives revealed that more than $100 billion were recovered during the whole investigations.