Okaz

I HAVE been following the activities of the Ministry of Labor and Social Development and its efforts to lower the rate of unemployment in the country.

I have noticed that the numbers and statistics announced about job availabilities for the youth remained only just announcements. Thousands of young Saudis are still waiting for employment opportunities and to build their life, society and family.

What happened and what is the cause of the wide gap between reality on the ground and what was planned?

If the directives issued to encourage job creation and to achieve the targeted goal of reducing unemployment among Saudis was too slow, then what is the solution and how can we expedite these steps?

The unemployment rate remains fixed at 12 percent, up and down by a little, and sometimes we hear that the percentage exceeded the mark. If we assume that this ratio is accurate, then what are the actions taken by the ministry? What are the ministry›s plans to face the growing challenge of accommodating new graduates from universities and colleges every year, whose number sometimes crosses half a million, in the job market?

Are these graduates going to swell the unemployment rate further? If that is the case, then the unemployment rate is going to increase multifold in coming years.

Unemployment among women is somehow similar to the unemployment among men, and this is creating a social problem. If the Ministry of Labor and Social Development wanted to solve the issue of unemployment among educated women at the expense of educated men, then it is going to be difficult to maintain the social balance. It is important to employ men because they are the ones who financially support homes and build families.

If we focus mainly on employing women, then we are creating a big gap in the job market that cannot be fixed in the near future. The salaries in the job market are very low and it is not enough to meet the basic needs of Saudi families. If government sectors were to be privatized and transformed into companies, then it will be driven only by profit motive.

Therefore, these companies will deal with the Saudi employees on the concept of productivity and profit generation. This will in turn lead to low salaries exacerbating the unemployment problem.

I do not know how the ministry will tackle this problem. The longer it exists, the more difficult it will be difficult to solve it. New Saudi graduates and job seekers will add fuel to the fire. So what is the solution?