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QS World Future Skills Index: Saudi Arabia
7 August 2025
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With an overall score of 66.1, Saudi Arabia performs strongly on Academic Readiness, indicating a growing commitment to future-focused education. However, Skills Fit and Economic Transformation highlight the ongoing need to better connect education with employment opportunities.
Welcome to the Saudi Arabia Spotlight on the QS World Future Skills Index, where we explore higher education’s critical role in shaping the workforce of tomorrow. This tailored resource empowers you to analyse Saudi Arabia's future skills supply and demand, benchmark key industry jobs and skills gaps against over 80 countries, and align your higher education system with the skills training required for economic transformation.
Saudi Arabia performance overview
Saudi Arabia is undergoing a bold transformation, propelled by Saudi Vision 2030 in a nationwide effort to diversify its economy and upskill its population. With an overall score of 66.1, the Kingdom performs strongly on Academic Readiness (82.5), indicating a growing commitment to future-focused education. However, Skills Fit (56.9) and Economic Transformation (51.0) highlight the ongoing need to better connect education with employment opportunities. While workforce participation is expanding, employer demand for AI, Green, and Digital skills is still developing beyond flagship public initiatives. Closing these gaps will require targeted reforms to align university programmes with labour market needs, foster industry-academia partnerships, and invest in scalable, innovation-led economic pathways. By accelerating the translation of educational strength into applied, inclusive job creation, Saudi Arabia can fully realise its futureoriented ambitions
[Performance overview]
About the indicators
Skills Fit
The Skills Fit indicator measures how well countries are equipping graduates with the skills that employers desire. This is assessed by determining the gap between what employers find important and their level of satisfaction with the skills provided by graduates. This is done using data from the QS Global Employer Survey, the largest of its kind, and data from the World Bank Group. Since 2021, over 100,000 employers have rated the importance of certain skills and their satisfaction in their graduate hires.
Future of Work
The Future of Work indicator evaluates a country’s readiness to recruit for the skills needed in the jobs of tomorrow. Specifically, it measures how well the job market is prepared to meet the growing demand for digital, AI, and green skills, all of which are becoming critical as economies transition towards technology-driven and sustainable industries.
Academic Readiness
This dimension measures how well a country is prepared for the future of work. We look at the number of universities assessed for the QS World University Rankings by Subject, and how they perform. We then measure this in tandem with population size – if a country has a large population but few well-ranked institutions, for example, the country will be penalised.
Economic Transformation
Economic Transformation uses a weighted formula to assess a country’s readiness to support the growth and future of work and skills by examining various key indicators. The Index highlights whether a country has the infrastructure, investment power, and talent available to transition to industries driven by AI, digital transformation, green technologies, and high-skilled work, using data from the World Bank Group, UNESCO Institute for Statistics and the Education Policy Institute
Saudi Arabia performance in detail
Skills Fit
Saudi Arabia’s Skills Fit score of 56.9 highlights an important opportunity to strengthen alignment between graduate capabilities and evolving workforce needs. Sub-indicators show moderate strength in Human-Centred Leadership (60.9) and Sustainable and Ethical Workforce (54.4), but significant weaknesses in Adaptive Lifelong Skills (59.5) and Entrepreneurial and Innovative Mindset (51.9). This suggests that while foundational leadership and ethical awareness are improving and progress is visible, there is room to place greater emphasis on problem-solving and critical thinking skills that are increasingly vital in a diversified, future-ready economy.
Future of Work
Saudi Arabia’s Future of Work score stands at 73.8, suggesting moderate employer demand for future-facing skills, but room for significant growth. AI and Digital expertise are increasingly sought after in governmentled initiatives like NEOM and smart city programmes. Private sector engagement is gradually expanding, and green skills represent an emerging area of opportunity aligned with national climate ambitions. Strengthening the labour market’s capacity to attract and retain future-ready talent, particularly beyond major public initiatives, will be important for sustaining long-term progress.
Academic Readiness
Scoring 82.5, Saudi Arabia’s Academic Readiness reflects solid progress and focused investment in strategic disciplines aligned with the future economy. With particularly high subject performance in AI (81.0), Digital (77.2), and Green (75.0), both top-ranked and mid-ranked institutions institutions are leading the charge in future-focused education. The Kingdom is quickly becoming a hub for research excellence and international collaboration, with growing visibility in global subject rankings
Economic Transformation
Saudi Arabia’s Economic Transformation reflects a nation in transition. Vision 2030 has catalysed vast investment in infrastructure, tourism, FinTech, and renewable energy, but much of the growth remains statedriven. Economic Capacity (40.4) reveals constraints in private sector dynamism, SME growth, and innovation. Workforce Readiness (56.1) and Future-Oriented Innovation & Sustainability (25.6) scores point to an opportunity to strengthen the alignment between human capital and emerging economic sectors. Despite headline investments, the Kingdom still has considerable room to build a robust, innovation-led private sector that expands beyond government funding
Conclusion and analysis
Saudi Arabia is investing heavily in education and future skills, with strong academic foundations (Academic Readiness: 82.5) and growing employer demand (Future of Work: 73.8). However, Skills Fit (56.9) and Economic Transformation (51.0) scores highlight a disconnect between higher education and the evolving job market. Unlocking Vision 2030’s potential will require industry-academia alignment, inclusive workforce policies, and innovation-driven reform
Our analysis and recommendations:
- Align education with labour market demand Bridge the education-to-employment gap by embedding employer input into university curricula, scaling real-world learning, and prioritising soft skills and entrepreneurship. A national framework for work-based education—especially in AI, Digital, and Green sectors—should become a strategic imperative.
- Expand workforce participation and reskilling With Skills Fit at 56.9 and labour participation still evolving, higher education institutions should begin by engaging alumni. Policy can complement these efforts by targeting reskilling programmes at the most at-risk workers. Flexible learning pathways and employer incentives will help ensure a more dynamic and inclusive workforce.
- Diversify economic engines through innovation To improve Economic Capacity (40.4) and future-readiness, Saudi Arabia must turn research potential into innovation. Universities can drive tech transfer, build SME hubs, and develop applied research. Utilising the strength of higher education to develop privatesector ecosystems will be critical for transitioning from state-driven growth to a knowledge and skills-based economy built for long-term resilience
