RIYADH, March 27: Saudi Arabia is working on a plan to nationalise jobs in the private sector.

The ongoing Arab uprising is pushing governments in the region to focus on the issue of unemployment.

It is believed that in Saudi Arabia which has eight million plus expatriate workforce, most of them in the private sector, the unemployment rate is about 10 per cent and some reports put the figures of the unemployed at over 500,000.

Despite the government emphasis on Saudisation of jobs, the private sector has so far been reluctant to hire Saudis for various reasons. But now it seems that the government is going to handle this situation with a heavy hand. The Saudi Labour Ministry is to announce its new Saudisation plan in two weeks, newspapers reported here on Sunday.

The ministry's spokesman Hattab Al-Anazi has been reported as saying that the plan may prevent non-compliant private companies from recruiting foreign workers, their licences may not be renewed and such firms be denied the ministry's services.

“At the same time, the companies that cooperate with the Saudisation plan will get more benefits and incentives,” he added.