RIYADH — Minister of Labor and Social Development Ahmad Al-Rajhi said that accounting and auditing are the professions that are most in demand in the private sector compared to the rest of the professions. Addressing the opening session of the Saudi Accountants Forum on Tuesday, he said that the average salary of Saudi employees in these professions is approximately SR7,000. "The prospect for making available of opportunities for women to work in these specialties is higher in view of the nature of the tasks that require accuracy and often not requiring field work," he said. Al-Rajhi said the Ministry of Labor, in cooperation with the Human Resources Development Fund (HADAF), is making necessary coordination to expand the base of those holding professional and associate degrees in accounting. Meanwhile, Fahd Al-Baddah, assistant undersecretary for job development at the ministry, said that nearly 80 percent of Saudi jobseekers in the private sector are women. He noted that there are 3,000 jobs available in the private sector. "The ministry is working to Saudize most of these professions during the current year. The ministry aims to start Saudization of two professions in the local employment market during the first quarter of this year and this will be in accordance with a time-bound program and mechanism that take into account the number of jobseekers in these trades," Al-Eqtisadiyah reported quoting him as saying. Al-Baddah said that the ministry is currently working with its partners in the private sector to identify challenges and work to solve them, to ensure raising the rates of Saudization of these professions, as the ministry seeks to increase the percentage of localization each year in these professions."
