Building the talent pipeline in Saudi Arabia

We conducted an online survey in partnership with Changeboard Magazine Middle East with 516 Saudi Arabian employers, along with a small number of face-to-face interviews.

31 January 2020

A total of 58% of respondents have all their operations exclusively in KSA, while 42% have offices in KSA, but are not based there exclusively. The majority of participants are at manager or director level (36% and 31% respectively), while 24% describe themselves as ‘decision makers’ and 9% ‘associates’.

The objective of the survey was to understand the employers’ views on different aspects of skills development, such as skills gaps, vocational and work-based learning, and the impact of Vision 2030. This research was conducted between September and November 2016.

Results:

73% of Saudi employers expect their businesses to grow in the next five years – but skills gaps put this growth at risk. 53% say they struggle to recruit and retain staff
Technical skills are the hardest to find (65%) followed by leadership skills (62%)
82% recognise a disconnect between what is taught in Higher Education and the requirements of the job market
83% would consider implementing vocational training
73% said an international skills qualification/ certification or global standard would aid recruitment when hiring expatriate workers