JEDDAH, 4 April 2007 — Labor Minister Ghazi Al-Gosaibi yesterday emphasized his ministry’s desire to meet the labor requirements of businesses and the demands of economic changes in the country. He said there was considerable increase in the recruitment of skilled foreign labor last year.
Gosaibi made this comment during a meeting with businessmen at the Riyadh Chamber of Commerce and Industry. He estimated the Kingdom’s unemployment rate at about 12 percent and urged businessmen to employ more Saudis.
The Labor Ministry has embarked on a plan in association with the General Organization for Technical Education and Vocational Training (GOTEVOT) to provide necessary training to Saudi jobseekers, taking market requirements into consideration. “Our plan is to send qualified job aspirants to private companies to employ them in accordance with their requirements. Job applicants who are not qualified will be sent to GOTEVOT for training,” he explained.
Gosaibi said that fighting unemployment in the Kingdom was a joint responsibility. “It is wrong to assume that it’s the sole responsibility of the Labor Ministry. The whole society with all its institutions must come together to tackle this national issue,” he said.
The minister hoped that the next national dialogue forum, which is going to address unemployment and labor market issues, would be able to find a radical solution to the complex problem. The official unemployment rate among Saudi men is put at nine percent and among women at 22 percent.
“Unemployment is a complex issue that has no easy solution,” Gosaibi said. “We have to find out the reasons and solve them in a scientific manner. Previous solutions were individual views that lacked scientific and methodical thinking,” he added. The minister said insufficient training was a key factor in unemployment in the Kingdom, as well as the tendency of some companies to skirt their Saudi quotas. Under the new guidelines issued by the Ministry of Labor, Saudi high school graduates who seek government job-placement services will be required to undergo a four-to-six month training program through GOTEVOT.
Hattab Al-Anazi, a ministry official, said college graduates would be exempt from the requirement. “Those joining the program will be given stipends and be given jobs in the private sector,” he added.
Abdul Wahid Al-Humaid, deputy minister for planning and development, disclosed plans to restructure the Manpower Development Fund and revise regulations of paying salaries of trainees. “We discuss with businessmen professions that could be Saudized and its percentage.”
Ahmed Al-Zamil, deputy minister for labor affairs, spoke about the ministry’s efforts to improve working atmosphere at labor offices. “There is a plan to provide more powers to labor office directors to issue recruitment visas,” he added.
