JEDDAH, 25 February 2006 — Abdullatif Alissa Holding Group plans to employ 503 Saudi nationals by 2008, thus increasing the percentage of the Saudis in the group to 51 percent. The group projected these figures in its Saudization plan that was presented to the Minister of Labor Dr. Ghazi Al-Gosaibi last week in Riyadh by Abdul Mohsen Alissa, CEO and managing director of the group.
In 2005 Alissa group, the local authorized dealer for General Motor and Isuzu in the Central Region, had 469 Saudi nationals on their rolls and they comprised 30 percent of the group’s employees. In 2006, the group plans to increase the number of Saudis by eight percent to become 666 Saudi employees. The group expects to employ another 178 Saudis in 2007 so that the total number of Saudi employees in the group will reach 46 percent.
In 2008, a further intake of 124 Saudis will push the total number to 954 Saudis so that the company will achieve 51 percent level of Saudization. Between 2005 and 2008, the group hopes to Saudize its work force by 22 percent.
The company has signed several agreements with training institutes in the Kingdom to train and prepare Saudi nationals. The group also is emphasizing on technical training. Earlier this month, the group cooperated with GM to establish a technical training institute for Saudi nationals in the Kingdom. The new training program is funded by the Saudi Human Resources Development Fund. The group has enrolled 40 Saudi trainees so far in the new program.
