45.8% of Employees in Saudi Arabia Work More than 40 Hours a Week

The percentage of employees who have coverage for primary healthcare reached 89.7% (Saudi Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development)
The percentage of employees who have coverage for primary healthcare reached 89.7% (Saudi Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development)
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45.8% of Employees in Saudi Arabia Work More than 40 Hours a Week

The percentage of employees who have coverage for primary healthcare reached 89.7% (Saudi Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development)
The percentage of employees who have coverage for primary healthcare reached 89.7% (Saudi Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development)

A total of 45.8% of employees in the Kingdom work for more than 40 hours per week, and 39.6% of employees work for 40 hours per week on average, the General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT) has announced.

The GASTAT published health and safety at work statistics for 2023 in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on Sunday.

The publication showed that employees' actual working hours per day are eight hours.

The percentage of employees trained on health and safety procedures at work reached 46.6%, while the percentage of employees with a dedicated health and safety department at their workplace reached 48.7%.

According to the bulletin, the most common risks faced by employees are standing for long periods of at least four hours daily, with a percentage of 28.21%, sitting on a chair for long periods exceeding three continuous hours, with a percentage of 28.15%, and moving the upper limbs repeatedly for long periods with a percentage of 17.1%.

The results showed that 7.8% of employees directly or indirectly deal with chemical substances, medical waste, radioactive materials, or toxic gases, while 6.3% of employees face electrical, machinery, or drowning risks.

The percentage of employees who have coverage for primary healthcare reached 89.7%.

The most common work-related health issue in the past 12 months is "work-related stress," with a percentage of 3.2%, while 83.5% of employees do not suffer from any work-related health issues.



GASTAT: Unemployment Rate in Saudi Arabia Stabilizes Relatively at 3.5% in Q1 2024

A night view of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (SPA)
A night view of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (SPA)
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GASTAT: Unemployment Rate in Saudi Arabia Stabilizes Relatively at 3.5% in Q1 2024

A night view of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (SPA)
A night view of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (SPA)

The Saudi unemployment rate in the first quarter of 2024 reached 7.6%, compared to 7.8% in the fourth quarter of 2023, said the General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT) in the Labor Market Bulletin for the first quarter of 2024.

The report provides insights into the changes in the labor market during this period, incorporating the revised data from the fourth quarter of 2023 based on the Saudi Census 2022.

The overall unemployment rate - for Saudis and non-Saudis - has relatively stabilized at 3.5% in the first quarter of 2024, compared to 3.4% in Q4 2023.

In the first quarter of 2024, the unemployment rate for Saudi females rose to 14.2%, up from 13.9% in the previous quarter of 2023 and unemployment for Saudi male workers decreased to 4.2% from 4.6% in the previous quarter of 2023.

The labor force participation rate in Q1 2024 for Saudis increased to 51.4%, compared to 50.4% in the fourth quarter of 2023. However, the labor force participation rate for both Saudis and non-Saudis decreased to 66.0% from 67.0% in the fourth quarter of 2023.

Moreover, the results also showed that the labor force participation rate for Saudi females increased to 35.8% in the first quarter of 2024, up from 35.0% in the previous quarter. Similarly, for Saudi male workers, the labor force participation rate increased to 66.4% from 65.4% in the previous quarter.

According to GASTAT, the results are based on a household survey conducted by the authority, which electronically collects information from a sample representing different regions of the Kingdom.

Data about the working-age population residing in the Kingdom is thus collected and estimates are made by the authority by calculating important labor market indicators, such as unemployment and labor force participation rates, among others.