The Hafiz program has provided some startling insights about unemployment among citizens in the Kingdom. With each application comes additional information — address, telephone numbers, where they have applied for jobs and who have rejected them — that gives a clear picture of the unemployed. Therefore, the Ministry of Labour has extensive knowledge about the number of doctorates, degree and certificate holders available in the labor market. Once the ministry sifts through the applications, we hope they will come up with a plan on how to better prepare our willing workforce for the available employment opportunities. While many have welcomed the recent changes denying Hafiz entitlement to those who reject more than three suitable job offers, do not complete training courses or do not attend interviews, it is quite clear that a lot more needs to be done to generate employment opportunities for our youth. The ministry recently announced that it has succeeded in providing jobs to over 250,000 male and female citizens this year. The gap between supply and demand can be better comprehended when you consider the number of beneficiaries in the Hafiz program that has now reached a whopping 1,365 million. Moreover, 86 percent of the Hafiz applicants are women. If we were to provide all of them with jobs - which do not exceed 90,000 - we could create a female government sector. On the other hand, if we employ them in the private sector, then a similar situation would result as the number of Saudi nationals in the private sector also does not exceed one million. The duration of Hafiz is 12 months and not 12 years so the authorities need to act with great urgency in order to continue to keep up with the national economy system. To begin with, the Ministry of Labor could reduce the numbers of expats allowed to work in the Kingdom which would create more job opportunities for Saudi citizens. Another important phenomena to be taken into consideration is that girls who live with their male breadwinners should not be classified as unemployed, as in Islam it is incumbent upon the man to earn a living to his family which includes females too.
