Saudi Gazette report

RIYADH — More than half a million citizens have entered the labor market as a result of the Saudization decisions, according to the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development (MHRSD) annual report for the year 2021.

The MHRSD's report revealed that about 523,800 Saudi citizens have entered the labor market, after the localizing agreements and decisions, or a percentage of 67.6% from the total of individuals who entered the labor market.

About 218,000 citizens, or 41.74% of the total number of entrants, are new entrants to the labor market, and 305,000 citizens, or 26.58% of them, are returnees to the labor market.

Also the number of entrants to the labor market for reasons other than Saudization decisions reached about 96,500 citizens, or 38.52%. The total returnees to the labor market for reasons other than Saudization decisions reached to 154,100 citizens, representing 61.4% of the total in all sectors.

The MHRSD signed more than 3,000 agreements with the private sector in several sections within the Saudization program, which resulted in it reaching the target rate of 115,000 jobs or 111%, as the ministry has employed 128,000 Saudi citizens in the private sector in several diverse sectors.

About 213,300 jobs have been targeted by the Saudization decisions' map for the year 2021, which included Saudization of a number of sectors, activities and professions, where about 20 localization decisions were issued, including:

1 - Restaurants and cafes.

2 - Grocery stores and supermarkets.

3 - Commercial complexes (malls).

4 - Customs clearance.

5 - Real estate activities.

6 - Private education.

7 - Medical devices.

8 - Radiology.

9 - Physiotherapy professions.

10 - Driving schools.

11 - Technical and engineering professions.

The MHRSD’s report revealed that among the ministry’s programs was the success of the remote work program, which exceeded the target for the year 2021, where the concluded contracts amounted to 58,000 contracts, which was originally estimated at 50,000 contracts.

Saudization and employment is one of the ministry’s priorities to work on reducing the number of serious job seekers, the MHRSD noted.

Additionally, for this reason it is constantly working on analyzing professions and activities in the labor market, as well as identifying suitable Saudization opportunities that help in enabling jobseekers to enter the labor market and provide the required support for them and the establishments.

The MHRSD said that during the past year it presented many initiatives, pointing to 3 tracks it had taken in the Ministry's Saudization Agency, which are:

1 - Sectoral localization track:

This track aims to build localization plans based on the labor market' sectors, and is based on the principle of partnership between the system of the MHRSD and the government agencies, who are supervising the sectors with the private sector.

The ministry said that the sectoral localization track initiative was carried out through a study and analysis of the labor market sectors, in order to help them identify the professions that can be localized, based on the number of jobseekers, who are qualified to occupy the targeted professions.

2 - Regional localization track.

This track aims to support localization programs specific to each region in Saudi Arabia to increase the contribution of national cadres in the labor market according to the type of activities.

3 - Work' pattern track.

This track is specifically for freelancing, remote working and flexible-work, as it provides multiple forms of job contracts.

The ministry established this track to keep pace with the developments of the labor market and the change in the forms of contracting, as well as the ways of providing services. And for this, the MHRSD launched the freelancing and the remote work platform.