Cairo: The overall number of employees in the Saudi private sector last month reached 11.2 million against 11.1 million in February, yet a fresh proof of the sector’s constant growth, according to official figures.
The Saudi National Labour Observatory (NLO) said in a monthly report that the figure comprised 2.36 million Saudi workers, including 975,721 females. The total number of expatriates employed in the sector in March, meanwhile, reached 8.87 million including 359,465 females, NLO added.
Some 28,161 Saudi citizens joined the private sector employment for the first time in March, according to the report.
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”.
Earlier this week, Saudi Arabia started localising insurance sales jobs four months after issuing a related decree as part of the kingdom’s efforts to provide work for its citizens.
The Ministry of Human Resources in partnership with the Saudi Insurance Authority announced that the decree made public in December went into effect, saying the step aims to provide jobs for Saudis and bolster the insurance sector’s economic activity.
Last month, Saudi Arabia said human resources jobs in the kingdom are restricted to Saudi nationals.
The Ministry of Human Resources also announced that the second phase of a decree localising the consultancy services professions by 40 per cent of the overall manpower took effect. The first phase of that decree went into effect in April last year, stipulating that 35 per cent of the employees in these jobs must be Saudis.
Earlier this year, Saudi Arabia has said it will partially localise engineering jobs. The decision will take effect on July 21 to Saudise 25 per cent of engineering professions in private sector establishments that employ at least five workers each in these jobs.
In recent years, the kingdom has sought to diversify its oil-reliant economy through an ambitious development scheme.
