1.2 Million Expatriates will Leave Saudi Arabia in 2020

As many as 1.2 Million expatriates will leave Saudi Arabia in 2020 as per the study by Jadwa Investment Company in the Kingdom. Due to increase in Saudization, increase in oil prices, increase in un-employment rate which impacted business due to COVID-19 pandemic situations most of the foreign workers will leave the kingdom.

Also Read: MOL Warns Employers Not to Exploit Changes in Salary & Unpaid Leave

1.2 Million Expatriates to Exit Saudi Arabia in 2020

The study is only projections by Jadwa Investment Company but it is expected due to current pandemic and saudization. According to the report, the sectors which will witness the exit of the largest number of expatriates are:

• Hospitality.
• Food Services.
• Travel Agencies.
• Support Activities.
• Rental and Lease Services.
• Security and Building Services.

Saudi’s unemployment rate is expected to remain unchanged at about 12% by end of 2020. The current epidemic has already shown its impact but some hospitality business will not see much income until the end of the year. This includes tourism, hotels, travel, and entertainment sectors. Most businesses have seen an impact due to restrictions or social distancing measures.

After weeks of lockdown, kingdom begun to slowly reopen their economies and according to the report, the overall business environment will see improvement in the second half of this year, especially in the last quarter and and the new improvement will replace foreign workers with Saudis workers and the number of Saudis will increase in the workforce. There will be limit the arrival of expatriates workers on new visas, and this will give more opportunities to Saudi Arabia citizens.