One can find five main differences between the GCC labor markets and those of the developed economies:
In the developed economies, in most cases, educated and skilled employees first prefer to find employment in the private sector while the public sector is only a second choice. In the GCC countries, private sector employment, in most cases, is not relevant to nationals.
The most lucrative economic advantage of the developed economies is their highly skilled workforce; in the GCC countries many nationals are only a burden on the economy as the authorities in order to prevent high open unemployment have no choice but to absorb them into the public sector.
While the unemployment rate in the developed economies is a function of economic performance, in the GCC countries the unemployment of nationals is a function of the ability of the authorities to absorb additional nationals into the public sector. Although the GCC economies grew much faster than the workforce during the last decade, unemployment among nationals did not decline, since the vast majority of additional job opportunities were created in the private sector.
While in the developed economies foreign labor is predominantly employed in the DDD (dirty, difficult, dangerous) jobs, in the GCC countries foreign labor fills all positions from top managerial and professional positions to DDD jobs.
In the developed economies many immigrants strive to be naturalized while in the GCC economies the vast majority of them do not want to be naturalized and prefer to return to their home countries after having saved enough money. Also, in contrast to the situation in other developed countries, the GCC states do not offer the possibility to acquire citizenship and become a member of their society (cf. chapter on citizenship).
