The restaurant and hotel sector is suffering from a severe shortage of specialized workers and delivery drivers, as the door to bringing in new labor from abroad remains shut for most of the services sectors. A government report revealed a drop in the number of workers in lodging and food services between March 2020 and March 2021 – a total of 8,641 workers.

Head of the Restaurants Union Fahad Al-Arbash told Al-Qabas Arabic daily that restaurant owners are unable to operate as the ban on bringing in labor from abroad remains in place, along with a dearth of experienced specialized workers such as chefs, bakers and confectioners, and this has negatively affected work.

Jaber Al-Shareef, owner of a delivery company, said the ban on bringing in labor from abroad, coupled with a shortage of manpower locally, has contributed to an increase in wages and transfers between companies due to competition and monetary incentives./KT