Arab News, Thu, Dec 07, 2023 | Jumada Al-Uola 23, 1445
Saudi private sector employment reaches 10.8m
Saudi Arabia:
Saudi Arabia’s total number of employees in the private sector reached 10.8
million in November, up 0.93 percent from the previous month, according to newly
released figures.
Of those, 2.3 million were Saudi nationals, and
8.5 million were residents of the Kingdom, the Saudi National Labor Observatory
report revealed.
Analysis of the Saudi national contingent shows
that 40.99 percent were females. In contrast, of the 8.5 million non-Saudi
workers, 3.86 percent were females.
In November alone, the net growth in jobs for
Saudi nationals stood at 13,084, indicating a steady increase in employment
within the private sector.
Additionally, 41,028 Saudi citizens joined the
private sector for the first time in November.
Last month, the NLO released a first-of-its-kind
report that disclosed that the number of Saudis with more than 20 years of
experience in the private sector is above 123,000.
At the time, the organization claimed that this
figure indicates an improvement in the overall survival and sustainability of
such jobs in the Kingdom.
The report also highlighted that this rise
was mainly attributed to efforts exerted by the sector such as financial
incentives and rewards.
In addition to this, private firms also offer
continuous training and development driven by government support, retention, and
nationalization programs.
Moreover, in 2021, a study revealed that the Saudi
private sector is hiring women at twice the rate of the public sector.
Between the beginning of 2019 and the end of 2020,
Saudi women in the labor market grew by 64 percent as the Kingdom underwent
several social reforms, particularly for its female population, the study
disclosed at the time.
The study, commissioned by the US think tank
Brookings Institute, showed the surge was “genuine, private-sector-led,” as
female employment in these sectors rose by about 10 percent, twice as quickly as
in the public sector, where it grew 5 percent.
Saudi Arabia’s economic diversification path has
turned the Kingdom into a hub for employment opportunities thanks to its bold
giga-projects, including NEOM, attracting fresh talent into the construction
sector.
The massive developments align with the Kingdom’s
Vision 2030, which aims to reduce Saudi Arabia’s dependence on oil and enhance
the strength of the private sector.