JEDDAH — The remote employment program launched recently by the Labor Ministry will offer 200,000 work opportunities for people struggling to travel to their workplaces, according to the Labor Ministry. A source said the ministry aims to enable as many job seekers as possible to find work opportunities through the program. "The ministry aims to offer 200,000 remote employment job opportunities within the next five years. The program will especially serve women and disabled job seekers. Remote employment is a way to enable employees who are not always able to commute to the workplace for whatever reason," the source said. He also said the program would enable employees to work from business centers, or even from home. The Ministry of Labor and the Human Resources Development Fund (Hadaf) officially launched the program to create more job opportunities for Saudi women in particular in different cities and governorates of the Kingdom. This will open the way for employing citizens in suitable, stable and productive jobs, Khaled Aba Al-Khail, director general for information at the Labor Ministry, said on Saturday. Aba Al-Khail said the program covers numerous fields, which are determined by the nature of work. He said the fields include translation, programming, accounting, auditing, investment consultancy, human resources, data entry, training consultancy, research, technical support, digital media, training and education consultancy, interior designing, education and personal services, transport, storage, telecommunications and financial and insurance services, among others. The ministry had earlier launched a training program for remote employment in cooperation with Duroob Program under Hadaf. "The cooperation of the private sector in the program improves its quality and expedites the recruitment and hiring process for the trainees of the program," said the Labor Ministry source. He said the lower the unemployment rate is, the better for the Saudi economy. "The ministry has studied the demands of the job market and has consolidated with several work fields to enable remote employment in positions in most demand. The ministry has consulted several experts in designing the program to ensure its effectiveness. The minister of labor himself has been following up with the program," the source said. The unemployment rate is the highest among women and people with special needs. However, the remote employment is open to anyone, but it will greatly benefit women and people with special needs. "The ministry aims to enable all members of society to be productive by contributing to its development and fulfilling their social responsibility," the source said.
