Ha! Saudis dont work! All the white collar / clerical jobs are filled by Indians and Pakistanis. A lot of the technician positions are Filipinos. The Sri Lankans and the Bangladeshis do most of the menial dirty jobs. We had two Saudis in our office when I worked there. They would be in the office about four hours a day. Whether or not they ever did any work is unclear.
It is going to be a painful multi-year adjustment - a major cultural shift, to get Saudis to develop a broad work ethic.
To get them off the couch, and off the Government dole (Government jobs, unemployment, and other programs), will mean changing the lives of millions of individuals - hearts and minds and values. More than half of Saudi workers are directly employed by the Government - they sometimes work even less than the private sector’s many tea-sipping token Saudi employees.
These are strong policy measures that have been put into effect, as compared with the kind of gradual policies we see in the USA, so the Government is trying. It will require powerful policy incentives over many years, because the Saudi workforce is so far outside of the global norm (at least they are highly literate and educated).
Beyond just policy though, a lot of people will need coaching and encouragement, to turn their lives around like the Government wants. I think they should have the media and education establishments working hard to encourage people, and promote good role models.