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Strong labor markets depend on global connectivity and collaboration. Cross-border labor migration expands access to opportunity, while international coordination helps ensure workers benefit from stronger protections, safer conditions, and effective governance.
The International Labour Organization (ILO) estimates that around 169 million people worldwide are migrant workers, accounting for nearly two-thirds of all international migrants. That scale underscores how critical safe, well-regulated labor mobility has become as demand for skills and demographic pressures reshape markets across borders.
For Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development (HRSD), global collaboration is central to delivering reform. It strengthens worker protections, enhances governance, and anchors policy in evidence and shared international experience.
HRSD’s approach combines academic partnerships that translate research into practice, structured engagement with international organizations, and platforms that align stakeholders and support capability building.
Earlier this year, these priorities were reflected in HRSD’s convening of the third edition of the Riyadh-hosted Global Labor Market Conference (GLMC), a global forum for policy dialogue and coordination. With participation from policymakers and practitioners in more than 100 countries, the conference advanced shared labor market priorities.
Strengthening labor market systems through global partnerships
Saudi Arabia’s partnership with the ILO plays a central role in advancing the governance of the Kingdom’s labor market through technical exchange, institutional development, and structured support for reform design and implementation.
At GLMC 2026, this partnership was further reinforced through a high-level dialogue with ILO Director-General Gilbert Houngbo. The discussion focused on shared priorities, including human-centered approaches to technological change, the future of skills, and the need for labor market institutions that can adapt to AI-driven transformation while continuing to protect workers.
HRSD and the ILO have also launched the third phase of their Programme of Cooperation, building on earlier phases to support national labor market priorities, strengthen institutional capability, and promote decent work. The program emphasizes implementation and sustainability, enhancing HRSD’s ability to deliver reforms, measure progress, and maintain alignment with international labor standards.
HRSD and the World Bank also announced the release of a report titled “A Decade of Progress,” offering a comprehensive analytical overview of Saudi Arabia’s labor market transformation since the launch of Vision 2030 and the Labor Market Strategy.
The report compares 2015, the baseline year prior to Vision 2030, with 2025, enabling a clear assessment of the tangible impact of reforms and policies led by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development. It further highlights how these efforts have modernized labor market institutions, strengthened participation across demographic groups, and enabled the private sector to serve as a key engine of job creation. In addition, the Ministry signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the UK Skills Partnership, as part of the Saudi-UK Strategic Business Council, to engage with UK skills and training counterparts on knowledge exchange, skills development, and alignment with labor market needs.
Academic partnerships that bring research into practice
Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) is a key area where research partnerships deliver measurable impact, particularly as workplace risks evolve alongside industrial and technological change. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), operating under the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health (NCOSH), signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the National University of Singapore to exchange academic expertise and support evidence-based policies aligned with international best practices. The collaboration also includes joint research initiatives, advanced training programs, and the development of a regional heat resilience network.
At the national level in Saudi Arabia, NCOSH strengthened academic integration through agreements with Umm Al-Qura University in Makkah and Care Medical Company, a Saudi healthcare provider, to enhance research, training, consultancy services, and knowledge exchange in support of a stronger occupational safety and health system.
These partnerships reflect NCOSH’s commitment to building institutional capacity and strengthening regulatory compliance. Over the past six years, workplace injuries have declined by 44%, occupational fatalities by 75%, and compliance with OSH requirements reached 75% by the end of 2025, demonstrating sustained progress in worker safety outcomes.
Events that bring stakeholders together and accelerate learning
Bringing international partners together strengthens labor market outcomes when dialogue translates into measurable change. In areas such as occupational safety and health, where risks and technologies evolve quickly, sustained cooperation is essential.
The seventh Global Occupational Safety and Health Conference (GOSH7), held in 2025, brought together policymakers, experts, and practitioners from over 60 countries to strengthen the link between research, regulation, and workplace implementation. Its accompanying global hackathon, with more than 600 participants and over 400 submissions, demonstrated how international collaboration can generate scalable safety solutions.
This model extends beyond occupational safety. GLMC 2026, convened by H.E. Eng. Ahmed bin Sulaiman Al Rajhi, Minister of Human Resources and Social Development, brought together 40 ministers and senior government leaders advance shared labor market priorities. Alongside it, the Global Labor Market Academy, delivered in partnership with the World Bank, provides structured training on advanced strategies for labor market transformation. Bringing together reform practitioners from 25 countries, the program focuses on practical reform design and implementation, ensuring that ministerial dialogue is matched by institutional capability.