Originally Posted by
masalama
The working age population(18-60) in SA is approximately 21 million whereas the total Emarati population in UAE is 1.5 million , not sure how many are working age. Obviously , with better opportunities in the UAE and a smaller base , there has been a strong dependency on expat workforce which will decrease over time as the state strongly encourages and incentivizes the local population to take up jobs that have been traditionally expat only.
In the Saudi case , having a large young unemployed population is not an option that any government would like and they should and would focus on "Saudisation" , it makes perfect sense for the future of SA.
Masalama
Your argument holds weight, and it's important to compare similar sized, or larger, demographic groups when discussing employment rates. South Korea, for instance, has a significantly larger working-age population, approximately 37.7 million people, compared to Saudi Arabia. In addition, China's working-age population is a staggering 897 million. But both countries (had pre covid) have a noticeable expatriate presence in their airlines.
Turning our attention to Saudi Arabia, there's no denying that the country has a considerable number of young, unemployed individuals.
However, the key question is how many among them are genuinely interested in seeking employment and not just cushy government jobs where they can spend their time on their phones, as pointed out in an earlier post.
From this group, how many are willing to commit to becoming pilots, and more specifically, are they prepared to take on challenging schedules, such as a 2am turn to India in the monsoon?
If other Middle Eastern airlines are any indication, locals prefer layover trips to places like Vienna (if they turn up at all) while expatriates handle the night turns and undesirables.
Therefore, considering these productivity complexities, I think it’s fair to say there will be some requirements for xpats here and there
