Healthcare Jobs in Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia, the largest country of the Middle East, is run by petroleum exports and oil reserves. The capital of Saudi Arabia is Riyadh, the largest city of the country.

The atmosphere for growth and expansion of business has once again become favorable and attracting attention from overseas investors as well. The government of Saudi Arabia provides healthcare services through a number of healthcare agencies. The participation of private companies in health care industry has been growing continuously. A broad base of general and specialist hospitals has been set up in Saudi Arabia to cater to the medical needs of the people. This has created large number of healthcare jobs in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

The Ministry provides primary health care (PHC) services to the natives through a network of health care centers throughout the kingdom. The private sector also provides medical services through a number of hospitals, dispensaries, laboratories, pharmacies and physiotherapy centers. There were around 100 hospitals, 600 dispensaries, 800 clinics, 50 medical laboratories, 15 physiotherapy centers, 300 pharmaceutical stores and 3,200 pharmacies by the end of the year 2000. These figures have almost doubled in a decade and still growing with huge investments being made in the healthcare sector. Along with the figures, the employment opportunities have also grown manifold due to the growing demand for medical professionals. Healthcare jobs in Saudi Arabia are witnessing a boom with expansion of the industry.

Moreover, the government extends a comprehensive package of benefits to Saudis and public sector expats that includes public health, preventive, diagnostic, and curative services and pharmaceuticals. Public spending on health industry is financed from the government budget and is estimated to be around 11%. Public spending accounts for 80% of all health spending though the government is encouraging investment from private health industries.

According to reports, Saudi Arabia is likely to experience a sharp rise in healthcare needs in the coming times. The medical sector of Saudi Arabia is, anyway, ripe for investment opportunities as per health experts. The slowly aging society of the Kingdom is creating tremendous demand for improvement in healthcare services. The Kingdom, thus, is capable of pumping money and expertise from outside to meet the medical needs of the aging yet affluent locals. Since, government alone can not cater to the growing requirements of local population; it has to take help from private sector as well. It has to get ready for the difficult transition of the sector from being government controlled to a public-private entity.

Some of the goals established by Ministry of Health (MOH) and Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA) include the following:
- Creating a stronger institutional set-up and effective regulatory framework to promote private sector investment in healthcare industry.
- Developing a suitable business environment present Saudi Arabia as a more attractive destination for private healthcare providers and
-Attracting investors and other partners to the largest market for healthcare in the Middle East region.

It is clear that the employment potential of healthcare industry is quite huge. More and more healthcare jobs in Saudi Arabia are being advertised in newspapers and job portals. One could apply through recruitment agencies or create personal contacts and references with expats already working in Saudi Arabia. The local population of the Kingdom cannot suffice to fill the available positions and so, these medical jobs are extended to qualified and experienced expatriates at lucrative salaries. Not only are the salaries attractive, they are tax-free too which lets you keep the entire amount of money you earn. Even though the culture of the Kingdom is conservative, attractive tax free salaries remain the puller for expatriates.