RIYADH (Agencies): Reflecting the success of localization efforts, Saudis constituted 82.2 percent of the number of workers in the financial and insurance sectors in 2022.
Saudi citizens who are working in financial and insurance activities reached 75,001, while foreigners totaled only 16,290 or 17.8 percent, bringing the total number of workers to 91,291 last year.
Male workers made up 93 percent of the workforce in financial and insurance activities – reaching 71,648 workers in 2022, while the number of females working in these activities hit 19,643, according to Al-Eqtisadiyah.
Saudi females made up the majority in these jobs, constituting 18,983 workers, whereas the remaining 660 females were foreigners. With 71,387 workers, the Riyadh region accounted for 78.2 percent of all Saudi workers in these sectors.
Makkah ranked second with 11,487 workers and Al-Sharqiyah region came in third with 7,202 workers.
In April, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development implemented the initial stage of localizing 30 percent of consultancy professions and businesses across the Kingdom.
In October last year, HRSD minister Ahmad bin Sulaiman Al-Rajhi said these decisions have contributed to raising the number of Saudi workers in the private sector to over 2.12 million.
Al-Rajhi added that private sector establishments’ compliance rate with the labor system and its regulations reached 98 percent during 2022.
Additionally, the moves by the ministry have contributed to reducing the unemployment rate of Saudi citizens to 9.7 percent, as well as increasing women’s economic participation rate to 35.6 percent.
Across the board, authorities and ministries are also implementing Saudization initiatives.
This aligns with the Saudi Vision 2030 goal to reduce unemployment rates by increasing employment opportunities in the Kingdom.
Saudization is officially known as the Saudi nationalization scheme, Nitaqat.
The Kingdom’s efforts to create more jobs in line with Vision 2030 are showing fruition with the country coming first in the labor force growth rate among the Group of 20 countries during the period 2012-2021, according to a report launched by the National Labor Observatory last year.
According to Saudi Arabia’s Central Department of Statistics and Information, the unemployment rate in the Kingdom decreased to 5.8 percent in the second quarter of 2022, from 6 percent in the first quarter of 2022.
To achieve its Vision 2030 goals, the Kingdom is not only encouraging the recruitment of nationals to private sector jobs but is also encouraging adequate investment in their future to ensure their retention by employers as well as their contribution to a vibrant and diverse economy.
