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Updated Version of Saudi ‘Nitaqat’ Program Aims to Provide 340,000 jobs by 2024

The second version of Nitaqat has been launched with a goal to provide 340,000 jobs by 2024. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
The second version of Nitaqat has been launched with a goal to provide 340,000 jobs by 2024. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Updated Version of Saudi ‘Nitaqat’ Program Aims to Provide 340,000 jobs by 2024

The second version of Nitaqat has been launched with a goal to provide 340,000 jobs by 2024. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
The second version of Nitaqat has been launched with a goal to provide 340,000 jobs by 2024. (Asharq Al-Awsat)

The second version of Nitaqat, the Saudi Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development’s Saudization program, has been launched with a goal to provide 340,000 jobs by 2024.

Inaugurating the program, Minister of Labor and Social Development Ahmad al-Rajhi revealed that it aims at developing and increasing the efficiency of the labor market and providing job opportunities to Saudis.

The latest version of the Nitaqat program boasts three new features.

The first is a localization plan with a clear and transparent vision for the next three years, with the aim of increasing the organizational stability of private sector institutions.

The second part of the updated program will use a linear formula that is properly associated with the number of employees at an institution, instead of current localization rates that rely on classifying institutions into certain and fixed sizes.

The third update simplifies the design of the program and improves the client experience by merging activities with similar characteristics into 32 choices instead of 85.

Nitaqat was launched in 2011 to encourage the localization of jobs and set a minimum wage for Saudis in the private sector. The program’s first step was increasing the minimum wage to SAR3,000 ($800).

It was later raised to SAR4,000 ($1,000) during the beginning of the second quarter of this year.

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Putin Says Recession in Russia 'Must Not Be Allowed to Happen'

Putin wants officials to keep a 'close eye on all indicators of the health of our industries, companies and even individual enterprises'. Olga MALTSEVA / AFP
Putin wants officials to keep a 'close eye on all indicators of the health of our industries, companies and even individual enterprises'. Olga MALTSEVA / AFP
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Putin Says Recession in Russia 'Must Not Be Allowed to Happen'

Putin wants officials to keep a 'close eye on all indicators of the health of our industries, companies and even individual enterprises'. Olga MALTSEVA / AFP
Putin wants officials to keep a 'close eye on all indicators of the health of our industries, companies and even individual enterprises'. Olga MALTSEVA / AFP

President Vladimir Putin on Friday urged officials not to let Russia fall into recession "under any circumstances", as some in his own government warned of a hit to economic growth.

Economists have warned for months of a slowdown in the Russian economy, with the country posting its slowest quarterly expansion in two years for the first quarter of 2025, reported AFP.

The Kremlin has said this was to be expected after two years of rapid growth as it ramped up military expenditure to fund the Ukraine campaign, but officials including the country's economy minister have raised alarm about possible pain ahead.

"Some specialists and experts are pointing to the risks of stagnation and even a recession," Putin told attendees at Russia's flagship economic forum in Saint Petersburg.

"This must not be allowed to happen under any circumstances," he said.

"We need to pursue a competent, well-thought-out budgetary, tax and monetary policy," he added.

The Russian economy grew in 2023 and 2024 despite the West's sweeping sanctions, with massive state spending on the military powering a robust expansion.

But analysts have long warned that heavy public investment in the defense industry is no longer enough to keep Russia's economy growing and does not reflect a real increase in productivity.

At his address to the forum on Friday, Putin was upbeat about Russia's economic prospects and denied the economy was being driven solely by the defense and energy industries.

"Yes, of course, the defense industry played its part in this regard, but so did the financial and IT industries," he said.

He said the economy needed "balanced growth" and called on officials to keep a "close eye on all indicators of the health of our industries, companies and even individual enterprises."