More than 37,558 job opportunities were provided by Bab Rizq Jameel (BRJ) to Saudi youth during the first half of 2014, highlighting the success of the program’s efforts.

BRJ is one of Abdul Latif Jameel’s community initiatives. The figure marks an 8 percent increase (nearly 2,736 job opportunities) from the numbers achieved within the same period last year.

The direct employment program for men and women achieved the largest percentage of all the provided opportunities, exceeding 21,589 — more than 57 percent of the total opportunities created through Bab Rizq Jameel’s programs.

Abdul Rahman Al-Fehaid, executive director of BRJ in Saudi Arabia, said that this increase in job opportunities available through the direct employment program is due to the employment boom in the private sector in Saudi Arabia in the first half of the year highlighting the efforts of the Ministry of Labor. Through its programs, it aims to employ jobseekers and increase Saudization in the private sector, reflecting great progress in this regard over the past two years.

He clarified that the increase in direct employment program providing guaranteed opportunities in the private sector were more appealing to the youth, making the youth less attracted to other programs.

The productive families projects were in second place, providing 13,612 job opportunities (accounting for 36 percent of the total jobs provided), and the small projects financing program for men and women provided 1,163 job opportunities (1.4 percent of the total number of job opportunities provided), while the training resulting in employment program provided 541 job opportunities (1.45 percent of the total), and taxi and truck ownership provided 436 job opportunities (1.2 percent). Al-Fehaid emphasized that the direct employment program was one of the most active ones in the first half of the year, and the number of job opportunities provided by the BRJ program in the Kingdom’s private sector companies rose from 15,766 job positions in the first half of 2013 to more than 21,589 job positions in 2014, out of which 11,534 positions were filled by women, with a percentage of 53 percent of the total job opportunities created.