Saudi Arabia steps up efforts to boost private-sector employment for citizens

The Saudi Human Resources Development Fund (Hadaf) said it supported the employment of 142,000 citizens in the private sector during the first half of 2021. Among the beneficiaries of Hadaf’s support, 59 percent were women, it said on its official Twitter account on Thursday.

Medium-sized enterprises benefited the most from employment support, with 67,000 employees.

Recent initiatives to help boost skills in the national workforce include the inauguration, this week, of the Saudi Logistics Academy in Riyadh by Minister of Transport and Logistics Saleh Aljasser.

The academy is dedicated to qualifying Saudis in seven sectors, namely postal logistics services, maritime and ports transport, international trade, shipping and export, land transport, e-commerce, warehouse management and air transport.

Aljasser said that the ministry has signed agreements with a number of companies in the private sector, which have committed to employing 350 trainees from the graduates of this academy, Al Eqtisadiah reported.

Another initiative seeks to localize operation and maintenance contracts in public entities and companies in which the state contributes at least 51 percent of its capital.

Over 71,000 citizens were employed in the sector’s establishments since the initiative was launched two years ago until the end of May 2021, SPA reported citing data and reports of the initiative.

Earlier this month, Saudi employment officials set minimum salaries for operations and maintenance roles under a broader localization push.

Senior managers working in public operations and maintenance are entitled to a minimum salary of SR9,000 ($2,399), the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development said on July 7.