41,000 Saudis got private sector jobs in November

Cairo: Over 41,000 Saudis landed jobs at the kingdom’s private sector last month, according to an official report, as the kingdom has stepped up efforts to provide more work opportunities for its citizens.

The National Labour Observatory (NLO) put the overall employees at the kingdom’s private sector last month at 10.8 million, including 2.3 million Saudis, 942,000 of whom are women.

In its monthly report citing job growth in the private sector, the NLO said the foreigners working at the sector in November reached 8.5 million, including 328,494 women.

In recent years, Saudi Arabia has launched a series of initiatives to employ its nationals and replace foreign workers in several fields including education, telecommunications and real estate as part of a labour policy known as “Saudisation”. In September, the kingdom unveiled a plan to localise the dental profession, initially setting it at 35 per cent as of next March.

The Ministry of Health said it will follow up the implementation of the decision geared towards increasing Saudis’ engagement in the labour market.

Compliant private sector institutions stand to benefit from incentives and support programmes offered by the Ministry of Human Resources to help employ Saudis.

These incentives include support to the process of looking for qualified employees, training and employment continuity as well as having access to Saudi employment programmes.

In mid-2022, ministerial decrees were announced restricting jobs in certain sectors to Saudis only.

They covered optics jobs, customer services, licensed aviation professions including co-pilots and air controllers, sales outlets and periodic checks of cars.

In December, another decree localising employment for postal services and parcel transport across the country went into effect.

Saudi Arabia is also implementing a regional employment programme for its nationals.