MAKKAH — The workforce in the Kingdom has reached about 12.2 million of which about 11.48 million (94.4 percent) are employed and 680,200 (5.6 percent) are jobless, Makkah daily reported on Monday quoting data released by the General Authority for Statistics (GAS). A manpower survey for the second half of 2015 conducted by GAS showed that by the end of last year Saudis in the workforce were 5.6 million of whom about 88.5 percent were employed. A total of 647,000 Saudi men and women were jobless representing about 11.5 percent of the total workforce consisting of nationals and expatriates. The survey said that about 230,600 Saudi men were without jobs representing about 35.6 percent of the unemployed citizens while there were 416,400 jobless women representing about 64.4 percent. According to the statistics, about 64 percent of the Saudi workforce was in the age group 20-39 years. It said the Saudis aged between 25-29 represented about 38.8 percent of the jobless, the highest rate among the unemployed citizens. The statistics said that Saudi men aged between 20-24 represented about 44 percent of the jobless people while women between 25-29 years of age represented about 42.7 percent of unemployed women. On the geographical distribution of the workforce, the statistics said that about 6.4 million of the employed people (53 percent) were in Makkah and Riyadh region with the Saudis constituting about 41 percent. According to the survey, people with secondary school certificates represented about 25 percent of the employed individuals with the Saudis making about 60 percent of them. It also said that the bachelor's degree holders represented about 24 percent of the employed manpower with the Saudis representing about 60 percent of them. The statistics said the unemployed individuals with secondary school certificates were 28 percent of whom about 94 percent were Saudis while 56 percent of bachelor's degree holders were unemployed of whom about 96 percent were Saudis.
