RIYADH — Minister of Human Resources and Social Development Eng. Ahmed Al-Rajhi revealed that the Saudi Human Resources Development Fund (HADAF) has spent about SR3.7 billion ($986 million) on programs and products to support employment, training and qualification of Saudis during the first half of this year.

More than 100,000 establishments have benefited from these programs and over 153,000 citizens were employed in private sector establishments, he said during the ceremony of launching ‘Jadarat,’ the Unified National Employment Platform on Sunday. “The goal of the platform, under the slogan “Ambition and Empowerment,” is to unify employment efforts and data of job seekers in the public and private sectors, and to raise the quality and reliability of data,” he said.

Jadarat was launched in line with a Cabinet decision, issued in February 2021, to establish a unified national platform for employment, to be managed by HADAD. The platform is working to connect Saudi jobseekers with job opportunities available in both the public and private sectors.

Al-Rajhi said that the platform also aims to develop procedures, receive and process employment applications, facilitate job seekers’ access to available opportunities, as well as to provide the needs of public entities and private establishments for appropriate national competencies. “Jadarat has received government support in order to empower young Saudi men and women, in addition to harnessing all means and capabilities to develop human capital, and increase the competitiveness and efficiency of the citizens in the labor market,” he said.

According to Al-Rajhi, the platform features a database documented in integration with the Ministry of Education and the General Organization for Social Insurance (GOSI), and is distinguished by providing many innovative and unique digital services, most notably the use of modern technologies, artificial intelligence, advanced analytics and behavioral sciences in providing job matching services, achieving justice, clarity in employment procedures and displaying data, at no cost to the entities that are providing employment. “Jadarat works to enhance job matching by supporting business owners in meeting their job needs and reaching suitable candidates from national competencies. The platform also works to verify the data of registrants automatically in integration with government systems in documenting qualifications and experiences,” he said.

The minister stated that Jadarat will join other technical and digital platforms provided by the human resources system, in order to automate and develop its services aimed at empowering Saudis, and enhancing their participation in the labor market, as well as to support efforts to develop the local labor market and its strategy, and achieving national targets in the national transformation according to the Saudi Vision 2030. “The system will continue to work to provide an appropriate environment that achieves sustainability and job stability for national competencies, and supports sustainable development efforts,” he added.

Speaking on the occasion, HADAF Director General Turki Al-Jawini said that there are approximately 70,000 job vacancies on Jadarat platform in various specializations, needs and sectors of the labor market. He explained that the platform was launched with the aim of facilitating the job search journey and exploring all job opportunities to become the main enabler for employing the citizens.

Al-Jawini also highlighted HADAF’s keenness on establishing the platform to review a number of international qualitative experiences and take into account the challenges that the labor market previously faced. “The design period has gone through three experimental phases to verify the quality and efficiency of the platform’s work, which are collecting data of job seekers and employers previously registered on the Taqat and Jadarah platforms, as well as new and developed services in the employment path for private sector establishments.

It also enables registration for government and semi-government agencies, publishing their job advertisements, and completing all employment activities, in addition to developing the matching engine that achieves a smooth, comprehensive and effective digital matching to find job opportunities and communicate with the beneficiaries.

It is noteworthy that the Jadarat platform is tasked with integrating the data of jobseekers and business owners registered on the Taqat and Jadarah platforms. Taqat or the National Labor Gateway is one of the Kingdom’s touted employment support programs while Jadrarah is the E-Recruitment System. Taqat is a comprehensive e-platform wherein job seekers are facilitated with a wide range of employment opportunities and services. The launch of Taqat has given way to a more streamlined, organized way of operation of the Saudi labor market.

The Ministry of Civil Service launched earlier Jadarah Program for E-Recruitment, recording those who want and are willing to be recruited through its Jadarah program. This program enabled Saudi jobseekers to register their personal data, qualifications, and work experience, with the necessary documents attached. It also provided an electronic application service for vacancies advertised by government agencies, compatible with their qualifications and specializations.