Saudi Gazette report

Riyadh —Based on the decision of the Council of Ministers, the contracts of more than 71% expats working in government jobs have been terminated, Al-Watan Arabic daily reported on Monday.

The Ministry of Civil Service will find qualified Saudis to fill vacancies created by the termination of contracts of expat workers.

According to statistics of the Ministry of Civil Service, the education and health sectors are still attracting expat workers.

Some 91% of expat workers in government jobs are employed in the education and health sectors.

There were about 60,000 expatriates working in the public sector last year, according to a statistical report by the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority (SAMA).

The report said the total number of government employees — Saudis and non-Saudis — was 1.23 million with a drop of about 0.8 percent over their number in the previous year.

It said the number of the Saudi women holding government jobs increased by about 0.4 percent to reach 476,000 compared to 697,000 men whose number decreased by about 0.95 percent compared to 2016.

SAMA said Saudis constituted 95.1 percent of government employees while male expatriates were 4.9 percent reaching 29,600 with a decrease of about 12.7 percent over their number the previous year. The report said non-Saudi women workers were 30,800 with a decrease of about 7.3 percent over their number in 2016.

There were 474,153 Saudi women government employees in 2016 whose number went up slightly in 2017 to reach 476,347.