13% public sector jobs up for grabs

The Ministry of Civil Affairs has good news for jobless Saudis. About 13 percent of public sector jobs in the Kingdom have been found vacant, while 79,000 jobs in the sector are occupied by expatriates, a ministry report said.
This will undoubtedly come as a relief for thousands of unemployed Saudis who prefer to be employed in the public sector due to job security, good pay and two-day weekends.
The ministry estimated that there were more than 1.15 million jobs approved by various government departments and public firms in 2012, pointing out that 86.5 percent of these jobs are filled.
The actual number of civil servants reached 998,138, with male workers accounting for 65.51 percent and female workers 34.49 percent.
“The number of foreign workers in government departments rose by five percent in 2012 compared to the previous year,” the ministry said, adding that 5,589 foreigners were replaced by Saudis during the same year. Government departments recruited 6,390 foreign workers last year, including 3,277 women, the report said.
The majority of civil servants, estimated at 45.85 percent, are in the education sector, followed by 28.8 percent in the general category, 14.45 percent in the health category and 5.53 percent as part-timers.
Badr Almotawa, a Saudi journalist, urged the ministry to take quick action to fill vacancies, adding that it would provide jobs to more than 160,000 Saudis. The majority of government employees are in the military and security sectors, with their number reaching more than two million, he said.
“They work for the National Guard, armed forces and security agencies as administrators, soldiers, engineers and doctors,” he said. The security and military sectors run a large number of hospitals and health centers.
Almotawa emphasized the importance of on-the-job training to reduce unemployment among nationals. “There are a lot of opportunities for Saudis and they have to make use of them,” he told Arab News.