Okaz/Saudi Gazette RIYADH — The Technical and Vocational Training Corporation (TVTC) has announced that 19,084 young Saudi men and women are now ready to work in the field of mobile maintenance and sales. The announcement comes days before the first phase of the nationalization program for the telecommunication sector is set to begin in Ramadan. The decision reserves 50 percent of all work in mobile phone sales and maintenance to Saudis. This figure is to increase to 100 percent three months after the start of the first phase. TVTC Governor Ahmad Al-Faheed said the corporation was exerting all efforts in achieving the vision of 2030 by training Saudis to enter industries typically occupied by expatriates. "The corporation has a number of new training programs in a variety of work fields and industries. All recipients of social insurance are given priority in these training programs and the ministries of labor and the social affairs have been merged to become the Ministry of Labor and Social Development," said Al-Faheed. He added the corporation has graduated 114 young Saudis from a training program for dairy and food products in Al-Kharj Governorate on Sunday. "The corporation is always introducing the latest technologies in fields of its training. The graduates of the corporation must be fully knowledgeable on how to operate machinery and equipment pertained to the field of their training program," said Al-Faheed. The Human Resource Development Fund (HRDF), meanwhile, called on business owners to visit the national portal www.taqat.sa to register and for companies to post job opportunities. New graduates can now register through the portal and review available job opportunities online with ease. A recent report by the TVTC showed that the program for the basic maintenance of mobile phones ranked first among graduates with 7,154 young people completing training, followed by customer service training with 6,228 graduates. Sales skills ranked third with 5,702 graduates. Training programs launched by the corporation in basic maintenance, sales skills and customer service as well as advanced maintenance have been offered by the HRDF and met with positive responses from young Saudis, with the number of those registered on the business center portal reaching around 76,000. The TVTC introduces graduates to these training programs through vocational paths, which can help them to get a job in the telecommunications sector or to open their own commercial project with the support of the National Entrepreneur Center in Riyadh. The center has also designed a special program to nationalize the telecommunication sector for the sale and maintenance of mobile phones, which is expected to increase job opportunities for young Saudi workers. The TVTC training programs have been prepared according to international specifications and in partnership with a range of smartphone manufacturing companies. The workshops aim to train Saudis to work in the field of selling and maintaining mobile phones. The program seeks to train some 20,000 young Saudis, reported Sabq.
