A Study to Identify the Potential Skill Gaps in the Saudi Labor Market Requirements

The Saudi Labor market is currently experiencing a wide skill gap due to the digital shift in the workplace. The employers, today, need a new skill set at the workplace. Yet, the traditional education system is not preparing the workforce according to the labor market requirements along with neglecting the strategic role of the human resource practices in the Saudi organizations. The purpose of the research is to examine the available skills and identify the potential gaps in the Saudi labor market. Descriptive analysis was conducted using both primary and secondary data. The aim of collecting primary data from the Saudi society was to explore the available skill-gap in the Saudi labor market. The survey was conducted to identify the missing skills needed in the job market today and in the future in KSA.Findings: The most available skills at high performance level, are: teamwork, communication, flexibility, and self-learning. The lowest available skills at a high-performance level are: programming, graphic designs, writing contracts in addition to accounting and finance. Originality/value: The paper fulfils the criteria to identify the skill-gap existing in the Saudi labor market. It also helps to identify the most desirable skills to the least desirable skills in Saudi Arabia as per the labor market requirements.Research limitations/implications: This research paper faced some secondary data limitation, specifically in finding more recent researches and studies regarding the human resource management in Saudi Arabia