JEDDAH, 16 April 2005 — Labor Minister Dr. Ghazi Al-Gosaibi yesterday warned unemployed Saudis that his ministry would consider only serious job seekers for employment.
“Any Saudi who demands a salary that does not match his qualification and training or refuses to join training courses or shifts from one place to another or rejects any jobs other than government jobs will be considered not serious,” he explained.
“The ministry will not be responsible for the employment of those who are not serious as it cannot force them to work,” he added.
“Last month alone, we have employed 12,104 Saudis in various parts of the country,” Gosaibi told the Saudi Press Agency.
They represented 7.8 percent of the total male job seekers (155,579) who registered with the ministry during an employment campaign four months ago. A separate campaign would be organized next month to register female job seekers.
The minister commended those Saudis who enthusiastically responded to the campaign to make use of available opportunities in the private sector.
Gosaibi said his ministry started finding employment for registered job seekers last month after providing them with training. “We have instructed all labor offices to receive applicants, conduct interviews and coordinate with the private sector to employ them.”
He hoped the ministry would be able to find jobs for all registered job seekers before the end of this year and thanked private companies for accommodating large number of Saudi job seekers.
A total of 180,443 Saudis registered for jobs at 46 centers during the employment campaign. Of them 24,864 were removed from the list as they were either employed or running their own businesses.
Gosaibi estimated the number unemployed male Saudis at 4.9 percent.
Saudis aged between 16 and 25 accounted for 68 percent of the total registered job seekers. Among them 88 percent were unmarried while 57 percent had their education level below secondary. Fourteen percent of the job seekers held bachelor or higher degrees.
Gosaibi warned that the ministry would punish companies which are negligent in implementing Saudization regulations. At least 30 percent of employees at companies having 20 or more workers must be Saudi by the middle of next year.
He said the ministry would continue to control recruitment abroad to curtail dependence on foreign workers. Last year, recruitment visas for private companies were cut by 17.8 percent to reach 684,201 from 832,244 the year before.
Ahmed Mansour Al-Zamil, deputy minister for labor affairs, said the employment campaign for women would start next month.
“We’ll open women’s sections at labor offices in Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam next month to receive job applications from women,” he told Al-Yaum daily.
However, he pointed out that job opportunities for Saudi women were limited compared to men, despite orders from higher authorities to create jobs for women at industrial regions and markets.
