More jobs for Saudi citizens at supermarkets, restaurants and cafes

Saudisation programme to create more opportunities for nationals in the kingdom

An initiative to set aside jobs for Saudi citizens is under way as part of the country's Saudisation programme. AP

A push to help more Saudi nationals into jobs in restaurants, supermarkets and cafes has begun across the kingdom.

Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development has reinforced the initiative to give as many jobs to Saudis as possible under the country's Saudisation programme.

It is designed to create more opportunities for Saudis across the kingdom in line with Vision 2030, the HRSD said on Saturday.

The plan, announced in 2016 by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, seeks to reshape the kingdom’s economy into one that is self-sufficient, progressive and diversified.

More than 28,000 Saudis entered the labour market in January this year. More than 420,000 citizens have joined the labour market during 2019-20 under the new initiative.

The programme has been implemented across restaurants cafes and supermarkets on October 2, the HRSD said. The local quota for restaurants and cafes, including outlets that provide dining or banquet services, fast-food outlets and juice shops, is 20 per cent.

The ministry said restaurants and cafes inside malls, must set aside 40 per cent of jobs and the quota applied if there were four or more workers on a single shift.

The Saudi quota for cafes that only offer drinks and for ice cream shops is 30 per cent and is applicable to those companies that employ two or more workers on a single shift.

All food truck jobs will be localised, according to the ministry excluding the jobs inside cafeterias in factories, offices, hospitals and schools, as well as those working in restaurants and cafes inside hotels, apartments and hotel villas.

The Saudi government aims to increase the Saudisation in highly skilled jobs to at least 40 per cent by 2030.

The Saudi Arabia Crown Prince last month launched a major programme to shake up education, teach the values of global citizenship and adapt the kingdom to a changing world.

Ahmed Al Rajhi, the HRSD minister, said the Human Capability Development Programme was a fundamental pillar of the labour market and aimed to create jobs for "80 per cent of graduates within 12 months of their graduation".

"The programme also focuses on rehabilitating young Saudis at the school level itself and prepares them to enter the labour market better than those who did not receive such a rehabilitation."