According to Deutsche Welle, the controversial advertisement was placed by the Dubai-based Kamal Osman Jamjoom Group, which was attempting to comply with new UAE regulations requiring a certain percentage of Emiratis to be employed. This incident highlights the friction caused by new labor force policies in the Gulf states.
Experts at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace have noted that these economic policies are beginning to undermine the pre-existing social contracts within Gulf states. Previously, oil income-funded states provided jobs, housing, and other benefits to their citizens, who in turn accepted an authoritarian model of governance. However, with declining oil prices, a global shift away from hydrocarbons, and rising youth unemployment, maintaining this social contract has become challenging for the region's oil-producing countries.
In response, Gulf governments are promoting non-oil, non-state-funded businesses, encouraging entrepreneurship among young citizens, and reducing public sector budgets. Frederic Schneider, a senior non-resident fellow at the Qatar-based Middle East Council on Global Affairs (ME Council), confirms that there is growing unease as governments push citizens from secure public-sector jobs to more precarious private-sector employment while cutting oil-funded welfare benefits.
The Saudi government, for example, introduced a "golden handshake" scheme in January to incentivize Saudis to transition from the public to the private sector. This shift is accompanied by a discourse suggesting that government jobs, once guaranteed by the social contract, represent an easy or lazy choice.
Simultaneously, Gulf states are striving to attract foreign workers for non-oil sectors by altering property ownership and long-term residency rules for foreigners and relaxing some religious and social restrictions. The UAE initiated these changes in the mid-2000s, while Saudi Arabia has recently started implementing similar measures, including a skilled workers visa scheme from mid-2025 and allowing foreign property ownership from 2026.
These top-down economic transformation projects are introducing new social tensions by prioritizing certain types of foreigners, as noted by the UAE-based researcher. With Emiratis and Saudis entering or desiring private sector employment, new migrants are increasingly seen as competitors in the labor market. This situation has led to social and cultural frictions as conservative locals are unsettled by efforts to make foreigners more welcome. Debates include changing the traditional weekend and increased focus on non-Islamic holidays like Christmas.
In the UAE, these social tensions are further heightened by the conflict in Gaza, argues the ME Council's Schneider. The influx of Israeli businesses and tourists due to normalization has led to the hosting of entities involved in the ongoing genocide in Gaza, according to the International Association of Genocide Scholars, although Israel denies these allegations.
Schneider has observed a growing disenchantment among Gulf state locals with the West due to perceived hypocrisy and complicity around the Gaza conflict and a perception that former allies like the US are less reliable. Foreign businesses are increasingly seen as encroaching on local enterprises, with significant funds being spent on Western consultancies for projects like Saudi Arabia's Neom, drawing discontent from both government agencies and emerging domestic consultancies seeking involvement.
