The latest report of the General Authority for Statistics indicates that there are around 693,000 unemployed Saudis, with an unemployment rate of 12.1 percent. The majority of unemployed young men and women either have high school education certificates or college degrees. This is the highest recorded rate since the third quarter of 2012. The report noted that the manufacturing sector created 156,000 new job opportunities in the fourth quarter of this year and that all of these jobs were given to expatriate workers. Between 2010 and 2015, the Ministry of Labor spent millions of riyals on conducting countless programs and studies to create job opportunities for the Saudi workforce. Programs have been conducted and studies have been applied but no effective results have been achieved. However, neither the programs nor the studies have been assessed to find out if they have had actual positive results and whether they have achieved their goals. The Ministry of Labor is planning to implement more Saudization programs and spend millions of riyals on them. Again, we will not be able to assess the effectiveness of the programs and evaluate their results. We need an independent body that can play a neutral role and assess with transparency the results of the new programs that are to be implemented. Whether the results are negative or positive does not matter. What matters is to find the right program that creates decent job opportunities for young Saudi men and women. Equally important is the fact that such programs should not have a negative impact on small- and medium-scale enterprises in the long run. In fact, such enterprises continue to suffer from the negative effects of the Saudization programs the ministry introduced in the private sector in the past. Currently, the private sector is experiencing the impact of a slump in oil prices and a government policy that seeks to rationalize public spending. Moreover, the entire sector suffers from stagnation, which affects the application of Saudization programs. Such stagnation may backfire as many Saudis could end up being laid off. The ministry should take this fact into consideration before implementing any new programs.
