Job creation gets new impetus

Makkah Gov. Prince Khaled Al-Faisal yesterday reiterated his governorate’s support for the Labor Ministry’s efforts to create more job opportunities for Saudis as the ministry intensified its Saudization campaign.

He promised to hold a special session of the Provincial Council with the participation of Labor Minister Adel Fakeih to discuss the Saudization program for the region.

During his meeting with Prince Khaled here yesterday, Fakeih made a presentation on his ministry’s new employment programs for Saudis, including the plan to set up an executive office at the governorate to follow its job localization endeavors.

“My recent meetings with businessmen had a big impact on nationalizing jobs in the private sector,” the minister said.

The ministry yesterday published huge advertisements in local newspapers urging private companies to employ more Saudis to maintain their position in the Nitaqat system, especially when they employ more expats during the correction process.

“You don’t need to go far away to get Saudi workers. You will see thousands of Saudi job seekers hav- ing various skills on our website,” the ministry said.

There are 953,216 Saudi job seekers having computer skills while 221,961 hold bachelor degrees. Unemployed Saudis are available in 62 cities across the Kingdom. More than 210,500 Saudi job seekers can speak English.

The Human Resource Development Fund will support employment of Saudis in the private firms by paying part of their salaries up to SR 4,000 per Saudi for four years.

In the first year, a company in the Green category will receive a salary support of SR 3,000 and Platinum category SR 4,000. In the second year, SR 2,500 and SR 3,000, third year SR 2,000 and SR 2,000 and fourth year Green zero and Platinum SR 1,000.

Saudi Arabia has introduced sweeping reforms to tackle domestic unemployment by pushing firms to hire Saudis — who now hold only about one in 10 private sector jobs — instead of some of its roughly 9 million foreign residents.