‘831,500 got jobs through HRDF’

RIYADH: A total of 831,500 Saudis were employed in various sectors from 2011 till now, with 52,400 landing jobs in the first quarter of this year itself, an official of the Human Resource Development Fund (HRDF) has said.
“Of the total number of citizens whom the fund helped with employment in around five years, 63 percent were males and 37 females,” said Omar Malibari, deputy executive director of HRDF.
“Among those employed during the first quarter of 2016, 61 percent were males and 39 percent females,” he was quoted as saying by local media on Monday.
Around 100,000 citizens benefitted from the HRDF’s electronic platform, Diroub (roads), which includes over 25 training paths to provide job seekers with the skills needed by the labor market. He highlighted the contribution of the HRDF in offering support to training and employment through the targeted nationalization program, which has been launched by the Minister of Labor and Social Development.
“The program aims to nationalize sectors that attract national labor, including the telecommunication sector.”
The HRDF offers vocational guidance services through 120 branches and employment centers across the Kingdom. The fund holds meetings with job seekers and offers training. It has taken a number of initiatives to support nationalization of women’s jobs, said Malibari.
Five centers for this purpose have been launched after they contributed to the employment of more than 1,200 applicants. The fund offers other choices for women to work from home, he said. The HRDF has also been able to achieve a quantum transformation in the level of customer service, after realizing the ISO specifications, which enabled it to obtain four certificates from ISO in the field of customer service.
It has also received eight awards in customer service from Stevie International in March this year. More than 2,400 international bodies from the public and private sectors as well as international organizations were vying for the awards.
Malibari said the HRDF has prepared a mobile branch for customer service in various parts of the Kingdom to reach people. “The branch has been equipped with offices, waiting seats and a hall to hold employment and vocational guidance meetings. It has also been equipped with wireless communication to link it with other employment services offered by the fund,” he added.