Saudi Arabia can’t afford all the foreigners it has hired to do the work Saudis refuse to, or can’t, do.  But it is discovering that replacing them with subjects of the king is difficult, or even impossible.  Last April, Saudi Arabia’s Deputy Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman announced that the kingdom would implement a permanent residency program for expatriate workers similar to the U.S. Green Card system.  In the era of low oil prices, the benefit to the kingdom would be increased revenue from fees charged to process applications, penalties levied against companies which exceed foreign worker quotas, and monies from permanent foreign residents (potentially numbering in the millions) eligible to pay taxes. I surmised that the unstated motive was simply acknowledging the harsh realities of trying to wean generations of non-working Saudis from the life of Riley into gaining and maintaining meaningful employment.  Expats – roughly one third...(Read Full Post)