{"id":102601,"date":"2025-11-19T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-11-19T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/ksa\/2025\/11\/19\/saudi-arabias-labor-market-skill-gap-is-costing-us\/"},"modified":"2025-11-19T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2025-11-19T00:00:00","slug":"saudi-arabias-labor-market-skill-gap-is-costing-us","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/ksa\/2025\/11\/19\/saudi-arabias-labor-market-skill-gap-is-costing-us\/","title":{"rendered":"Saudi Arabia\u2019s labor market skill gap is costing us"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/strong>Ineffective career and education transitions are costing Saudi Arabia as<\/strong> much as SAR <\/strong>196 bn \u2014 or 4.2% of GDP \u2014 each year<\/strong>, according to a Pearson\u2019s report<\/a> on the cost of slow labor market transitions in the Kingdom. When calculating just for Saudi nationals and excluding expats, that figure narrows to 1.34% of GDP (SAR 62 bn) annually.<\/p>\n

(** Tap or click the headline above to read this story with all of the links<\/strong> to our background and outside sources.)<\/p>\n

Automation-related disruption is responsible for half of the Saudi national-specific losses (SAR 31.64 bn)<\/strong>, as 23% of Saudi national-held jobs are at high risk of automation. This figure is of particular concern as sectors including construction, production, transport, and maintenance are the most vulnerable to automation disruption. It is those same sectors that are critical to the 2030 diversification strategy, Pearson notes.<\/p>\n

The economy also loses some SAR 16.94 bn because of the long lead time for new market entrants to land a job.<\/strong> It takes an average of 40 weeks for high school and university graduates to secure a job, according to the report. The difficulty stems from a mismatch between education and skill levels, with only 30% of engineering and technology graduates considered qualified for the job market, the report highlights. This problem is compounded by the high demand in the job market for these skills due to their importance in Vision 2030.<\/p>\n

The education-to-work transition friction is also highest among women graduates.<\/strong> Despite accounting for 61% of total graduates, only 29% of women \u2014 compared to 58% of men \u2014 are employed within the first year of graduation.<\/p>\n

When looking at job-to-job transitions, d<\/strong>isplaced Saudi workers face an average of <\/strong>11.3 months to jump back into the workforce<\/strong>, with almost 40% taking more than a year to rejoin the workforce. Losses from transitioning from one job to another cost SAR 13.59 bn, but most importantly, \u201cthese long spells of joblessness represent not only lost earnings but also erosion of skills,\u201d the report states.<\/p>\n

Slower transitions pose a challenge for the youth-driven economy<\/strong>, Pearson says. Unemployment among the 15-24 age group stood at a high rate of 14.8% in 1Q in 2025, marking a pressing concern for this demographic, which is projected to grow from 2.69 mn individuals in 2025 to 3.22 mn by 2030.<\/p>\n

How can we beat the friction?<\/strong> Pearson suggests five strategies to address these challenges. These include:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Effectively targeting skills development through cooperation between employers and educators to better align education with the job market\u2019s needs;<\/li>\n
  2. Entry to the job market can be expedited by making it easier to gain early work experience through internships, apprenticeships, and mentorships;<\/li>\n
  3. The gap between theory and practice can be better bridged through early exposure to workplace experience;<\/li>\n
  4. Formal and vocational training programs can be developed to reflect skills and competencies in demand in high-growth sectors;<\/li>\n
  5. The government is encouraged to invest in labor market data platforms that support the visibility of job openings and skills requirements, which should reduce labor market supply and demand mismatches.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Automation disruption is responsible for half of the losses<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":102602,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":false,"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","ep_exclude_from_search":false,"_primary_brand":0,"newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_show_updated_date":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2571],"tags":[4471,27,2497,893,10,335],"brand":[],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"class_list":["post-102601","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","tag-automation","tag-economy","tag-education","tag-employment","tag-enterpriseam-ksa","tag-gdp","wpautop","entry"],"acf":{"mongo_id":"7b2afca7-c1cb-4e1f-a03f-1ab24f1ea019","order":"8","is_powered_by":false,"story_type":"1","photo_url":"https:\/\/ent.news\/2024\/7\/715.jpg","photo_position":"above","homepage_title":"","full_issue_title":"Saudi Arabia\u2019s labor market skill gap costs as much as 4.2% of annual GDP","related_issue":[102588],"teaser":"Automation disruption is responsible for half of the losses","voice_url":"https:\/\/s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/ent.news\/audio\/2025\/11\/.4a81b328-771e-41f6-a4cc-11d67c340dde.mp3"},"yoast_head":"\nSaudi Arabia\u2019s labor market skill gap is costing us - KSA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/ksa\/2025\/11\/19\/saudi-arabias-labor-market-skill-gap-is-costing-us\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Saudi Arabia\u2019s labor market skill gap is costing us\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Automation disruption is responsible for half of the losses\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/ksa\/2025\/11\/19\/saudi-arabias-labor-market-skill-gap-is-costing-us\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"KSA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-11-19T00:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ent.news\/2024\/7\/715.jpg?fit=%2C&ssl=1\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"enterpriseam admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"enterpriseam admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/ksa\/2025\/11\/19\/saudi-arabias-labor-market-skill-gap-is-costing-us\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/ksa\/2025\/11\/19\/saudi-arabias-labor-market-skill-gap-is-costing-us\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"enterpriseam admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/ksa\/#\/schema\/person\/ca597032db7e4db868359c123cec256d\"},\"headline\":\"Saudi Arabia\u2019s labor market skill gap is costing us\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-11-19T00:00:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/ksa\/2025\/11\/19\/saudi-arabias-labor-market-skill-gap-is-costing-us\/\"},\"wordCount\":494,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/ksa\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/ksa\/2025\/11\/19\/saudi-arabias-labor-market-skill-gap-is-costing-us\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ent.news\/2024\/7\/715.jpg?fit=%2C&ssl=1\",\"keywords\":[\"Automation\",\"ECONOMY\",\"Education\",\"employment\",\"EnterpriseAM KSA\",\"GDP\"],\"articleSection\":[\"ECONOMY\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/ksa\/2025\/11\/19\/saudi-arabias-labor-market-skill-gap-is-costing-us\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/ksa\/2025\/11\/19\/saudi-arabias-labor-market-skill-gap-is-costing-us\/\",\"name\":\"Saudi Arabia\u2019s labor market skill gap is costing us - KSA\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/ksa\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/ksa\/2025\/11\/19\/saudi-arabias-labor-market-skill-gap-is-costing-us\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/ksa\/2025\/11\/19\/saudi-arabias-labor-market-skill-gap-is-costing-us\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ent.news\/2024\/7\/715.jpg?fit=%2C&ssl=1\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-11-19T00:00:00+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/ksa\/2025\/11\/19\/saudi-arabias-labor-market-skill-gap-is-costing-us\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/ksa\/2025\/11\/19\/saudi-arabias-labor-market-skill-gap-is-costing-us\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/ksa\/2025\/11\/19\/saudi-arabias-labor-market-skill-gap-is-costing-us\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ent.news\/2024\/7\/715.jpg?fit=%2C&ssl=1\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ent.news\/2024\/7\/715.jpg?fit=%2C&ssl=1\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/ksa\/2025\/11\/19\/saudi-arabias-labor-market-skill-gap-is-costing-us\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/ksa\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Saudi Arabia\u2019s labor market skill gap is costing us\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/ksa\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/ksa\/\",\"name\":\"KSA\",\"description\":\"The State of the Nation\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/ksa\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/ksa\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/ksa\/#organization\",\"name\":\"KSA\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/ksa\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/ksa\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/ent.news\/internal\/42482.svg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/ent.news\/internal\/42482.svg\",\"caption\":\"KSA\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/ksa\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/ksa\/#\/schema\/person\/ca597032db7e4db868359c123cec256d\",\"name\":\"enterpriseam admin\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/enterpriseam.testing.projectsarea.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/ksa\/author\/enterpriseam\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Saudi Arabia\u2019s labor market skill gap is costing us - KSA","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/ksa\/2025\/11\/19\/saudi-arabias-labor-market-skill-gap-is-costing-us\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Saudi Arabia\u2019s labor market skill gap is costing us","og_description":"Automation disruption is responsible for half of the losses","og_url":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/ksa\/2025\/11\/19\/saudi-arabias-labor-market-skill-gap-is-costing-us\/","og_site_name":"KSA","article_published_time":"2025-11-19T00:00:00+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ent.news\/2024\/7\/715.jpg?fit=%2C&ssl=1","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"enterpriseam admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"enterpriseam admin","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/ksa\/2025\/11\/19\/saudi-arabias-labor-market-skill-gap-is-costing-us\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/ksa\/2025\/11\/19\/saudi-arabias-labor-market-skill-gap-is-costing-us\/"},"author":{"name":"enterpriseam admin","@id":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/ksa\/#\/schema\/person\/ca597032db7e4db868359c123cec256d"},"headline":"Saudi Arabia\u2019s labor market skill gap is costing us","datePublished":"2025-11-19T00:00:00+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/ksa\/2025\/11\/19\/saudi-arabias-labor-market-skill-gap-is-costing-us\/"},"wordCount":494,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/ksa\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/ksa\/2025\/11\/19\/saudi-arabias-labor-market-skill-gap-is-costing-us\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ent.news\/2024\/7\/715.jpg?fit=%2C&ssl=1","keywords":["Automation","ECONOMY","Education","employment","EnterpriseAM KSA","GDP"],"articleSection":["ECONOMY"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/ksa\/2025\/11\/19\/saudi-arabias-labor-market-skill-gap-is-costing-us\/","url":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/ksa\/2025\/11\/19\/saudi-arabias-labor-market-skill-gap-is-costing-us\/","name":"Saudi Arabia\u2019s labor market skill gap is costing us - KSA","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/ksa\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/ksa\/2025\/11\/19\/saudi-arabias-labor-market-skill-gap-is-costing-us\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/ksa\/2025\/11\/19\/saudi-arabias-labor-market-skill-gap-is-costing-us\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ent.news\/2024\/7\/715.jpg?fit=%2C&ssl=1","datePublished":"2025-11-19T00:00:00+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/ksa\/2025\/11\/19\/saudi-arabias-labor-market-skill-gap-is-costing-us\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/ksa\/2025\/11\/19\/saudi-arabias-labor-market-skill-gap-is-costing-us\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/ksa\/2025\/11\/19\/saudi-arabias-labor-market-skill-gap-is-costing-us\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ent.news\/2024\/7\/715.jpg?fit=%2C&ssl=1","contentUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ent.news\/2024\/7\/715.jpg?fit=%2C&ssl=1"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/ksa\/2025\/11\/19\/saudi-arabias-labor-market-skill-gap-is-costing-us\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/ksa\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Saudi Arabia\u2019s labor market skill gap is costing us"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/ksa\/#website","url":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/ksa\/","name":"KSA","description":"The State of the Nation","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/ksa\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/ksa\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/ksa\/#organization","name":"KSA","url":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/ksa\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/ksa\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/ent.news\/internal\/42482.svg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/ent.news\/internal\/42482.svg","caption":"KSA"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/ksa\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/ksa\/#\/schema\/person\/ca597032db7e4db868359c123cec256d","name":"enterpriseam admin","sameAs":["http:\/\/enterpriseam.testing.projectsarea.com"],"url":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/ksa\/author\/enterpriseam\/"}]}},"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ent.news\/2024\/7\/715.jpg?resize=600%2C400&ssl=1","featured_image_src_square":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ent.news\/2024\/7\/715.jpg?resize=600%2C600&ssl=1","author_info":{"display_name":"enterpriseam admin","author_link":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/ksa\/author\/enterpriseam\/"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ent.news\/2024\/7\/715.jpg?fit=%2C&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/ksa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102601","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/ksa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/ksa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/ksa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/ksa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=102601"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/ksa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102601\/revisions"}],"acf:post":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/ksa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/issue\/102588"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/ksa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/102602"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/ksa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=102601"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/ksa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=102601"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/ksa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=102601"},{"taxonomy":"brand","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/ksa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/brand?post=102601"},{"taxonomy":"newspack_spnsrs_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/ksa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newspack_spnsrs_tax?post=102601"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}