Over the last few months, employees working for state-backed Saudi companies have been startled by unforeseen cost cuts. It started during the first quarter of 2024 and affected those working in diverse sectors across the kingdom, from the media to the country's ambitious giga projects. Department spendings were significantly reduced, employees were made redundant and managements did everything big and small to save money, causing an atmosphere of tension and uncertainty.

The feelings of ease that accompanied what appeared to be unlimited resources in previous years, with lavish spending on grand events and launches, were replaced with fear over what might happen in the future.

Those concerns were heightened when news of reduced spending on giga projects was released.

In April it was announced that Neom’s mirror-clad desert city called The Line had been scaled back. It was meant to extend for 170 kilometers (105 miles) and be the eventual home of 1.5 million residents, but project officials told Bloomberg in April that it would prioritize the “first module” and build just 2.4 kilometers (1.9 miles) and house 300,000 residents by 2030.