Business & Money | Friday 29 May, 2015 2:19 am |

Over 1.86 million Saudis have applied for jobs under the Taqat job placement program run by the Human Resources Development Fund (HRDF).
Data released by the HRDF showed that there are only 11,300 job vacancies across the country, a shortfall of 90 percent.
University graduates made up 290,000 or 16 percent of those seeking employment. High school graduates accounted for 33 percent or about 426,000, those who completed elementary school 14 percent or 260,000.

There were 2,075 males and females with diplomas seeking work, the HRDF stated, according to the report.
Riyadh registered the highest proportion of job seekers at 300,000, Makkah with 290,000, the Eastern Province 230,000, and the Northern Border with the least number at 27,000.

An expert on labor market issues, Trad Al-Omari, said this number was correct, and that there were more than 3 million unemployed people in the Kingdom. These were people registered under the Hafez program and they no longer receive support.
“Unfortunately, the state has been spending many billions on programs to create jobs but unemployment is still on the rise,” he said.

Al-Omari said radical solutions are needed to tackle this issue, including forming a high commission that would assist the government in providing solutions.
Nidal Radwan, president of the National Workers’ Committee, said the only way to fight unemployment is for the private sector to make work conditions attractive for Saudis.
This includes defining working hours, a 40-hour working week and a two-day weekend. There should also be a minimum wage set that would balance high living costs with the financial capacity of employers, and an attempt to ensure job security.

He said currently Saudis prefer to work in the public sector, including for companies such as Saudi Aramco and Saudi Basic Industries Corporation, because of the “good working environment.”

Radwan said he was concerned that unemployment was so high among Saudis when there are more than 10 million foreign workers in the country.