Saudi- Jobless cost SR5.5bn yearly 

(MENAFN - Arab News) A senior Labor Ministry official yesterday estimated the number of unemployed young Saudi men and women at more than a million and said unemployment was costing the government SR5.5 billion annually.

Mahmoud Awad, manager of Liqaat employment program, also pointed out that about 50 percent of private companies in the Kingdom are in the red category of the Nitaqat Saudization system.

Addressing a meeting at Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Awad said the Liqaat program was introduced to supply qualified Saudi job seekers to private sector employers.

"We are now in the process of scanning about 100,000 curriculum vitaes of job seekers. We'll select 15,000 of them for a personal interview after checking their professional qualifications," he said.

Awad said the program would contribute to preventing Saudi employees dropping out from private companies. "The dropouts happened when Saudis were employed in positions that do not match their capabilities."

He said the ministry implemented the Liqaat program in Riyadh and interviewed 12,786 job seekers including 6,946 women," he said.

Awad disclosed plans to hold a job fair in Jeddah for five days from April 15 and another in Dammam on July 6-11.

He requested private companies to participate in the fairs, adding that the ministry would meet 65 percent of its expenditures.