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Half the firms in yellow or red Nitaqat band: Labor Ministry
About a half of private companies and establishments are in the yellow or red categories of the Nitaqat program and are therefore below their Saudization targets, local Arabic daily Al-Eqtisadiah reported Thursday quoting Labor Ministry sources.
Under the Nitaqat program, private companies and establishments are categorized green, yellow and red. Companies in the green zone will enjoy all facilities and benefits to be extended by the ministry that included recruitment of foreign manpower and transfer of iqamas.
The ministry has estimated the losses to the private sector due to unemployment to be about SR5.5 billion annually.
Meanwhile, the ministry is making preparations to launch a new program called Liqaat (interviews), under which job interviews will be arranged between employers and job seekers under one roof.
According to the ministry, about 6 million foreigners are currently being employed by the private sector while the number of unemployed Saudi men and women is about 1 million.
The ministry said under the Liqaat program, the biodata of about 100,000 young Saudi males and females were being scrutinized and about 15,000 of them will be selected for job interviews. The program, to be implemented by a specialized company, is a joint initiative between the ministry and the Human Resources Development Fund.
The ministry asked all Saudis who are not registered under the Hafiz unemployment assistance program to register their names in the Liqaat program and attend job interviews that will be held in Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam.
According to the ministry, about 150 rooms in the three cities have been prepared for possible employers and eligible candidates to meet.
The ministry said the first of the Liqaat fairs would be held in Riyadh on Jan. 28-30, the second in Jeddah on March 3-5 and the third in Dammam on April 14-16.
An official source at the ministry urged the private sector to take advantage of the opportunities being provided for them by the Liqaat program to employ young Saudis in order to improve their rank within the Nitaqat program.
“This is a chance for yellow and red companies to join the green category,” he added.
In a previous statement, Labor Minister Adel Fakeih said a national monitoring center for manpower information would be launched shortly as part of the ongoing Hafiz program.
The program, which will provide monthly allowances to unemployed people, aims to help a man or woman seeking employment to get a suitable and permanent job.
Fakeih added that the ministry planned to forge strategic partnerships with private sector and international institutions to promote employment programs.
“Long-term solutions to unemployment included the replacement of foreign workers with national workforce and making mutually complementary policy decisions for employment generation with coordination between various ministries,” Fakeih said.
He added: “We aim to stimulate the national economy and generate new employment opportunities and examine the relations between government spending and nationalization of jobs. We also review government policies and activities to support small enterprises in addition to linking education with present and future market demands.”
About a half of private companies and establishments are in the yellow or red categories of the Nitaqat program and are therefore below their Saudization targets, local Arabic daily Al-Eqtisadiah reported Thursday quoting Labor Ministry sources.
Under the Nitaqat program, private companies and establishments are categorized green, yellow and red. Companies in the green zone will enjoy all facilities and benefits to be extended by the ministry that included recruitment of foreign manpower and transfer of iqamas.
The ministry has estimated the losses to the private sector due to unemployment to be about SR5.5 billion annually.
Meanwhile, the ministry is making preparations to launch a new program called Liqaat (interviews), under which job interviews will be arranged between employers and job seekers under one roof.
According to the ministry, about 6 million foreigners are currently being employed by the private sector while the number of unemployed Saudi men and women is about 1 million.
The ministry said under the Liqaat program, the biodata of about 100,000 young Saudi males and females were being scrutinized and about 15,000 of them will be selected for job interviews. The program, to be implemented by a specialized company, is a joint initiative between the ministry and the Human Resources Development Fund.
The ministry asked all Saudis who are not registered under the Hafiz unemployment assistance program to register their names in the Liqaat program and attend job interviews that will be held in Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam.
According to the ministry, about 150 rooms in the three cities have been prepared for possible employers and eligible candidates to meet.
The ministry said the first of the Liqaat fairs would be held in Riyadh on Jan. 28-30, the second in Jeddah on March 3-5 and the third in Dammam on April 14-16.
An official source at the ministry urged the private sector to take advantage of the opportunities being provided for them by the Liqaat program to employ young Saudis in order to improve their rank within the Nitaqat program.
“This is a chance for yellow and red companies to join the green category,” he added.
In a previous statement, Labor Minister Adel Fakeih said a national monitoring center for manpower information would be launched shortly as part of the ongoing Hafiz program.
The program, which will provide monthly allowances to unemployed people, aims to help a man or woman seeking employment to get a suitable and permanent job.
Fakeih added that the ministry planned to forge strategic partnerships with private sector and international institutions to promote employment programs.
“Long-term solutions to unemployment included the replacement of foreign workers with national workforce and making mutually complementary policy decisions for employment generation with coordination between various ministries,” Fakeih said.
He added: “We aim to stimulate the national economy and generate new employment opportunities and examine the relations between government spending and nationalization of jobs. We also review government policies and activities to support small enterprises in addition to linking education with present and future market demands.”
