Okaz

Official statistics reveal that one third of Saudi workers who are registered in the civil service system work in one area, which is Riyadh. There are 424,029 of them which accounts for 36 percent of the total number of workers. The Saudi workers in Riyadh are followed by Makkah region with 186,200 people working or 15.8 percent of total workers. Next comes the Eastern Province with 122,363 workers and so on. Last is the Northern Borders Province with 18,135 workers at 1.5 percent. This means that two thirds of Saudis working and registered in civil service work in the three major areas of the country, while the remaining one third is spread over the rest of the Kingdom.

If we look at the percentage of Saudis registered in the social insurance system, we will find that the Riyadh area has 781,422 registered, at 40 percent of the total number. The Eastern Province comes next with 454,768 registered at 23.4 percent. Makkah region follows with 435,623 registered at 22.4 percent and so on. Last is the Northern Borders at 0.3 percent registered.

This means that the three major urban areas of the Kingdom have more than 86 percent of the total number of Saudis working in the private sector.

This indicates that the job market is overcrowded, in both the private and public sectors, in the three major regions of the country. This explains why the population is increasing in large cities and how this is adding more pressure on public services.

The rate of those immigrating to large urban areas in search of a job is increasing. These numbers are a clear indication of the planning patterns of related ministries in achieving regional balances when it comes to development. The labor market is linked to development. Over time, development plans and programs have been centralized in these regions and neglected in other areas.