Amid continued government support to stimulate Saudi non-oil activities and increase their contribution to the gross domestic product, the sector’s companies registered a strong performance in October, the highest in 9 years.
During the third quarter of 2023, non-oil revenues in Saudi Arabia jumped by 53 percent, on an annual basis, to reach SAR 111.5 billion ($29.7 billion), compared to about SAR 72.8 billion ($19.4 billion) in the same quarter of 2022.
According to the Purchasing Managers’ Index issued by Riyad Bank, in cooperation with Standard & Poor’s on Sunday, companies operating in the non-oil sectors in the Kingdom recorded last month the highest employment growth rate since October 2014.
The bank revealed that the index in Saudi Arabia rose to 58.4 points, compared to 57.2 points in September, which is the highest reading since June. Any reading above 50 points indicates a general improvement in business conditions.
In this context, experts told Asharq Al-Awsat that the decline in the unemployment rate in the Kingdom to 4.9 percent during the second quarter of this year was an “unprecedented” figure that was led by a number of non-oil projects.
Human resources expert Ali Al-Eid told Asharq Al-Awsat that the value of government support for some employment programs amounts to SAR 207,000 per beneficiary. He added that the programs aim to facilitate increased nationalization rates and reduce the burdens imposed on companies.
Al-Eid stressed that the high quality of employment in a large number of sectors and the availability of government programs supporting recruitment “may be unprecedented,” pointing out the importance of focusing on creating an attractive work environment that contributes to raising the quality and sustainability of jobs, developing capabilities and reviewing competencies.
For his part, Human Resources Expert Badr Al-Anazi told Asharq Al-Awsat that Saudi Arabia was focusing on localizing specific and general employment, and increasing women’s participation in the labor market.
He touched on the efforts of the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development, during recent years, to take the appropriate measures to correct the labor market environment and systems, in order to better serve the public and private sectors.
The General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT) revealed in September that the unemployment rate for the total population in Saudi Arabia had decreased to 4.9 percent, compared to the first quarter of 2023.
The unemployment rate for the total Saudi population declined significantly to reach 8.3 percent for the second quarter of 2023, compared to 8.5 percent in the first period of the same year.
