SAUDI ARABIA

121,766 Saudis entered labor market in 2017

Support programs help more Saudi women take up jobs

December 23, 2017

Saudi Gazette report

RIYADH — A total of 121,766 Saudi men and women entered the employment market up to Dec. 15 of this year, according to Khaled Aba Al-Khail, spokesman of the Ministry of Labor and Social Development.

He said the initiatives and support programs launched by the ministry a few months ago helped boost the employment market and increase the participation of Saudis.

Al-Khail said the number of Saudi men and women who joined the labor market increased to 48,471 in October from 28,154 in September. Some 36,062 Saudis took up jobs in the month of November while 12,280 got employed in the first 15 days of December.

The significant increase in the number of Saudis joining the employment market in October compared with the previous month was attributed to the ministry’s launch of a series of programs early in October.

Minister of Labor and Social Development Dr. Ali Al-Ghafis launched on Oct. 10 five new support programs to help Saudi men and women enter the employment market and raise the level of their participation in suitable, decent and stable work environment.

The new initiatives included the Program to boost Saudization, Freelance Program, Part-time Job Program, working women’s ‘Children Hospitality Program’ called ‘Qurrat’, and Program for transportation of working women called “Wusool.”

Speaking on the occasion, Al-Ghafis said the ministry is working to regulate the labor market and to empower Saudi men and women by increasing employment opportunities through an effective strategic partnership with a number of government and private sectors.

He noted that the support programs will be instrumental in enabling the sons and daughters of this country to invest, work and participate in the nation’s economic development in line with the National Transformation Program of 2020 and the Vision 2030.

Saleh Al-Amr, director general of the Human Resources Development Fund (Hadaf), said the programs will help get more jobs for Saudis in the private sector with a reduction in the cost of hiring as well as an increase in the participation of more women in the labor market.

Under the programs, HADAF will meet part of the social insurance premium of Saudi employees.

He said that the Freelance Program is aimed at promoting male and female entrepreneurs in the labor market with the help of social security support.

Those engaged in part time jobs can also avail of social insurance benefits.

The ‘Qurrat’ and ‘Wusool’ programs have been proved to be a big boost for working women.

According to an earlier report published by the ministry, there has been a significant increase in the number of Saudi women employed in the private sector during the last Hijri year.

The number of Saudi women who secured job in the private sector in the year jumped to 76.08 percent compared to 23.92 percent of expatriate women.

The total number of Saudi women working in this sector rose to 466,000 against 146,765 expatriate women, the Saudi Press Agency reported.


December 23, 2017
5505 views
HIGHLIGHTS
SAUDI ARABIA
hour ago

FDI inflows to Saudi Arabia jump 16%, reaching over SR13 billion in 4Q of 2023

SAUDI ARABIA
2 hours ago

Red Sea International Airport to welcome first foreign flight in April

SAUDI ARABIA
2 hours ago

Unemployment among Saudis falls to all-time low of 7.7%