JEDDAH, 31 October 2006 — A popular Saudi website began a new initiative last week asking unemployed Saudis to register their names and details with an aim of conveying the voices of jobless people to Saudi authorities who are in charge of finding solutions to the growing problem of unemployment in the Kingdom.
Btalah.com began calling unemployed people to register their details on Oct. 21, and so far 207 people have registered. Organizers behind the count are optimistic that the number will increase as awareness of the website grows.
“We’re asking concerned organizations to draw some attention to our website and forums and try to help unemployed people have careers,” said Yahya Al-Dosary, the website’s supervisor and an employee in the government sector.
The website began on Sept. 4 and so far has 1,242 members. There website has many sections including forums where people can freely discuss issues. Some forums allow discussion of work-related problems; advertise vacancies in different sectors and share videos and pictures pertaining to the issue of unemployment.
People that register their names for the unemployed list also include their age, gender, city, qualifications, experience, social and economic status, their dream jobs and contact details. They are also able to edit their personal information once they gain membership to the website.
One of the aims of the website is to help unemployed people find jobs. Tarik, 26, was one of the people who registered at the website. He studied chemical technology at the Riyadh College of Technology and is now working for his father in a family business.
Tarik is also on the lookout for potential employees. “I contacted some of the people who had registered themselves on the website and offered to send their resumes to my father’s business,” he said.
He said that one of the reasons for unemployment in the Kingdom was the fact that some Saudis refuse to take low-paying jobs. “At the same time, I do not blame them. Some sectors offer very poor salaries that are not enough to meet their expenses,” he said.
According to him, one of the ministries announced that it has 67 vacancies only for Saudis. Tarik went there to apply and saw crowds of people waiting to sign the job contract. According to Tarik, the conditions in the contract were rather tough. “The salary was only SR850 and the employee would have no days off, not even weekends,” he added.
Al-Dosary believes unemployment opens the door for many social maladies. He said youth need to use the energy they have in doing something positive for the good of themselves and the country.
“We are willing to send the details of people who participate to different companies who maybe can help in employing them,” said Abu Ali, a general supervisor of the website.
Some visitors of the forum have suggested that they could financially help to employ the unemployed. Abu Ali suggested starting an aluminum factory. “We’ve set a preliminary budget for the project and we have enough employees who are ready to start their job,” he said, adding that they were going to begin the project next week.
The forum is in Arabic and is accessible to all. “However, only Saudis can add their names and information to the unemployed list since the entire purpose of combining this list is to show the number of unemployed Saudis,” said Al-Dosary.
In 2005, ACNielsen, a leading New York-based marketing research company that operates in over 100 countries, surveyed the major social problems that affect six Middle Eastern countries including Saudi Arabia. The survey, which questioned 204 Saudis, concluded that 89 percent believed unemployment was the main social problem faced in the Kingdom.
