By Mohammed Al-Sobhi

Okaz/Saudi Gazette

JEDDAH — The employment of Saudis in the private sector has dropped by about 37 percent in 2016 compared to the previous year, the Ministry of Labor and Social Development has said in an annual report.

The report said the newly employed Saudi males and females in the private sector were 368,500 in 2015 and the number decreased to 233,300 in 2016.

It also said the number of the Saudis who returned back to work in the private sector after a brief lull decreased by about 39 percent from 25,700 in 2015 to 15,700 the previous year.

The ministry said the drop in the number of the Saudis being employed by the private sector was due to the economic difficulties and challenges in the labor market which have adversely affected the sector.

The report said Saudis do not usually prefer to work for the private sector because of its low pay compared to the public sector.

It said the other reasons for the Saudis not preferring to work in the private sector included lack of a unified system for safety and vocational health in the sector.

The report said the sector was not quite ready to prepare a conducive work environment for women. This was the prime reason, the report said, Saudi women are averse to joining the sector.

Economic expert, Nasser Al-Ghifari, admitted that the drop in the Saudi employees in the private sector was large but said it was normal in view of the economic slowness being witnessed by the entire world. He also said low salaries being offered by the private sector compared to the government were another factor keeping the citizens away from this sector.

Osama Filal, another economic expert, said the private sector was depending largely on government project. When these projects went down, the performance of the sector also shrunk, he said.

Filal, however, expected the sector to pick up again because it is an integral partner in the development projects being executed by the government.