In recent years, Saudi Arabia has taken major steps to make the "Saudization" process a reality, however, it seems as though it hasn't been going as planned.

The kingdom's "Saudization" process aims to nationalize its workforce by reducing its reliance on foreign labor. Thus, non-Saudis have seen fewer job opportunities available to them in recent months. 

The number of foreign workers declined by 6 percent in the first three months of 2018. More than 234,000 expats left the kingdom during the same period.

In just 18 months, more than 800,000 expats have left the country. The number exceeds an estimation in 2017 which claimed 670,000 expats would leave Saudi Arabia by 2020.

However, the departure of expats has not helped decrease the unemployment rate among Saudi nationals.

On the contrary, the kingdom witnessed its highest-ever unemployment rate among its citizens during the first quarter of 2018.

"Expat Exodus"

“The Saudisation policy of #Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has coincided with an "expat exodus" and a drop in foreign investment.” https://t.co/35Yshfgqsu

— Zaid Benjamin (@zaidbenjamin) July 9, 2018

One columnist provided a detailed explanation of the "failure" of the Saudization process in the private sector.

"Employers say young Saudi men and women are lazy and are not interested in working and accuse Saudi youth of preferring to stay at home rather than to take a low-paying job that does not befit the social status of a Saudi job seeker," Mohammed Bassnawi wrote. 

He called out the program as "fake" explaining that the plan "could create a generation of young men and women who are not interested in finding a job and who prefer to get paid for doing nothing."

Numbers from The General Authority for Statistics (GaStat) expose the extreme differences in the number of expat employees versus Saudi nationals in various sectors.

There are 2.4 million expats working as "support engineers" compared to the 221,000 Saudis, according to Saudi Gazette. 

More than 488,000 expats are employed as technicians, as opposed to the 206,000 Saudis. Expats working as technical specialists reached more than 288,000. 

However, just 164,100 Saudis occupy a similar position. Nationalizing the workforce is part of Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's Vision 2030 plan.

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