ABSTRACT
Saudi Arabia recently announced a plan, Nitaqat, for increasing Saudization in private-sector enterprises. Nitaqat has undertaken two distinct measures. First, to limit the ability of private-sector enterprises to employ expatriate workers; and second, to limit the duration of expatriates' residency to a maximum of six years. Nitaqat divides private-sector enterprises into four categories, depending on the degree of adherence to quotas of Saudization. The Nitaqat programme was conceived as part of a 25-year grand employment generation programme aimed at eliminating unemployment among the nationals in a three-phased manner. Politically, the new programme 'Jahiz' or 'ready' seems a timely motivated intervention in the labour market, which has become a hot playground of restive youth politics. This is most likely due to the demonstration effect of the Arab Spring currently underway in the entire Islamic Crescent. One plausible reason for the Nitaqat policy is the aspect of diverting the hearts and minds of the Sunni majority population through regional balancing.
