Education, School to Work Transitions and Unemployment in Saudi Arabia

Click to increase image sizeClick to decrease image size Notes This article is based on a paper first presented at the British Society for Middle Eastern Studies Conference at the University of Exeter, July 2003. The authors are grateful for the feedback from participants The survey was undertaken by Mohammed Bosbait as part of the work for his doctoral thesis, and Rodney Wilson, his supervisor, visited Al Hassa during part of the fieldwork period. For more detailed findings and the full questionnaire see Mohammed Bosbait, 'The school to work transition and youth unemployment in Saudi Arabia: The case of Al-Hassa Province', (University of Durham: PhD thesis, 2003), chapters 6, 7, 8, pp.128–227. Ministry of Finance and National Economy statistics cited in Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency, Thirty-Ninth Annual Report, Riyadh, 2003, p.166. Ibid. p.282. United Nations Development Programme, Literacy and enrolment indicators for Saudi Arabia. www.undp.org/hdr2003/indicator/cty_f_SAU.html (accessed 11 Nov. 2003). Ministry of Higher Education statistics cited in Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency, Thirty-Ninth Annual Report, op. cit. p.286. Saeed Haidar, 'More interaction needed between industry and education', Arab News, Jeddah, 27 May 2003. Ghazi Al-Maglooth, 'Who wants education?' Al Watan, Riyadh, 25 Sept. 2003. Staff writer, 'Human resources: finding jobs for Saudis', Middle East Economic Digest, 21 June 2002. P.K. Abdul Ghafour, 'Government allocates SR 3.7 billion for training young Saudis', Arab News, Jeddah, 5 Nov. 2003. Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency, Thirty-Ninth Annual Report, op. cit. p.288. The mechanisms of HRDF support for training and recruitment, Human Resource Development Fund, Riyadh, 2002. See also www.hrdf.org.sa (accessed 14 Nov. 2003). Staff writer, 'Kingdom boosts employment drive', Middle East Economic Digest, London, 5 April 2002. Abdullah Ibrahim Bohaimed, 'The determinants of wage differentials in a segmented labour market: A case study of the private sector in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia', (University of Durham: PhD thesis, 2003), p.222. Staff writer, untitled article, Middle East Economic Digest, London, 11 Oct. 2002. P.K. Abdul Ghafour, 'Expatriate numbers capped at 20 per cent', Arab News, Jeddah, 3 Feb. 2003.The Manpower Council cites the male rate of unemployment as 8.34 per cent. Brad Borland, 'The Saudi economy: a look ahead to 2004', Saudi American Bank, Riyadh, 5 Nov. 2003. Muhammad Sallahuldeen, 'The number of unemployed', Arab News, Jeddah, 15 Aug. 2003. Molouk Y. Ba-Isa, 'Catastrophe looms as population increases outstrip job opportunities in the Kingdom', Arab News, Jeddah, 28 March 2003. United Nations Development Programme, Gender Inequality in Economic Activity Indicators for Saudi Arabia. www.undp.org/hdr2003/indicator/cty_f_SAU.html (accessed 11 Nov. 2003) Wahib Binzagr, 'You can't have one without the other', Arab News, Jeddah, 2 June 2003. Estimated by the author from age group population data cited in Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency, Thirty-Ninth Annual Report, op. cit. p.300. Ibid. p.298. Ibid. p.214. Muhammad Al-Owaiefer, 'Unemployment and the private sector', Arab News, Jeddah, 17 Sept. 2003. P.K. Abdul Ghafour, 'Expatriate numbers capped at 20 per cent', op. cit., Arab News, Jeddah, 3 Feb. 2003. National Commercial Bank, 'Saudi Economic Perspectives', Jeddah, 1st Quarter 2003, p. 11. Gulf News Riyadh Correspondent, 'Saudi gold market faces difficulties switching to nationals', Gulf News, Dubai, 25 July 2001. Javid Hassan and Saeed Haider, 'Many shops closed following gold Saudization', Arab News, Jeddah, 6 March 2003. Saleh Alawi, 'Saudis hail taxi ban move', Gulf News, Dubai, 1 Nov. 2002. Muhammad Al-Harbi, 'Taxi companies not yet ready for transition', Arab News, Jeddah, 14 July 2003. Saeed Haider, 'Rising number of illegal taxis points to unemployment among Saudis', Arab News, Jeddah, 16 Oct. 2003. Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency, 'Thirty-Eighth Annual Report', Riyadh, 2002, p. 323. Saeed Hai3der, 'Spare the expatriates', Arab News, Jeddah, 7 April 2003. www.saudisation.com (accessed 24 Nov. 2003) Staff writer, 'New boost for Saudisation', Middle East Economic Digest, 12 July 2002. Ramon Knauerhase, 'Social Factors and Labour Market Structure in Saudi Arabia', (New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Economic Growth Centre Discussion Paper, May 1976) No.247, p.11. Staff writer, 'Saudis to be trained in skilled jobs to cut expatriate dominance', Arab News, Jeddah, 19 Oct. 2003. Saeed Haider, 'Saudisation: the objective is clear, the means are not', Arab News, Jeddah, 13 July 2003. Jasim Ali, 'Moves to reduce expatriates could undermine economic strategies', Arab News, Jeddah, 9 July 2003. P.K. Abdul Ghafour, '2,500 Saudi companies shift to Dubai', Arab News, Jeddah, 18 Aug. 2003. Saeed Al-Dosari, 'Saudis should seek work abroad', Al Watan, Riyadh, 29 Oct. 2003.