The purpose of this study was to determine (1) the size of the Saudi Arabian manpower shortage in light of the Second Development Plan, (2) the number of skilled and semi-skilled workers that will be graduated from vocational and technical programs during the plan period, and (3) the factors that explain the major causes of the labor shortage problem. In order to accomplish these objectives, the study has considered two questions: (1) Is there a consistency between the manpower needs of skilled and semi-skilled workers and the vocational and technical training programs' output? (2) What are the major factors that explain the labor shortage in Saudi Arabia?