The impact of “Nitaqat” on Indian high-skilled migration to Saudi Arabia

Abstract

“Nitaqat,” the labor market nationalization policy of Saudi Arabia, aims to increase the employment of Saudi nationals by restricting the entry of foreign workers in the country. Data from a sample survey of Indian professionals working in Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was analyzed using Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) Wilks’ lambda and Tukey Honestly Significant Difference tests. The findings from the exploratory study suggest that the Indian professionals who were laid off due to the policy are statistically significant between the sectors but not between the “Nitaqat” zones and the size of enterprises. The policy impact on new recruitments of Indian professionals is statistically significant between Nitaqat zones but not between sectors and the size of enterprises. The findings indicate that the opportunities for Indian high-skilled migration to Saudi Arabia are constrained in the construction sector and in yellow zone companies, while employment prospects remain in the banking and finance, education and IT and telecom sectors and in blue zone firms.