Saudi companies and joint venture firms participating in the annual Career Day organized by King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM) are offering better salaries and more incentives to university graduates to persuade them to join their business organizations. “Our basic starting salary for fresh graduates is SR10,000 per month; and including other benefits, monthly pay will reach to no less than SR16,000,” a human resource representative of a local bank said. “There is the assurance too that there will be increases in salaries in the early years of employment and onward,” he added. Dr. Talal Al-Kharobi, KFUPM Assistant Dean of Student Employment and Training, said salaries being offered by local companies and international firms operating in the Kingdom are now very competitive. He said excluding other compensation packages, the starting salary for new university graduates ranges from a minimum of SR10,000 to a maximum of SR15,000 per month. “Local companies are now building their human resource capabilities as they plan their corporate expansion, hence the competition to recruit and employ more Saudi graduates of universities and technical colleges is now very keen. The salary scale therefore has to be commensurate with that demand,” Al-Kharobi said. Most of the companies that are offering new incentives are in industry, banking and finance, construction and engineering, manufacturing and the service sector. “Because of the local job market's great demand for new graduates, most local companies annually review their salary offers and incentives to interest new graduates,” a recruiting officer of an affiliated company of the Saudi Arabian Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) said. Graduates of engineering courses, particularly petroleum engineering, have a strong preference for joining companies engaged in oil, gas, and petrochemical industries. “Companies like Saudi Aramco and those affiliated with SABIC and the power and water desalination sectors are preferred by graduates because these companies, in addition to having attractive salaries, offer more incentives. The most appealing consideration is that these companies are established institutions themselves and therefore lifetime jobs and careers for those joining these companies are assured,” Al-Kharobi said. Unlike companies outside the oil sector, Saudi Aramco and SABIC also have their own programs for compensating employees; the compensation packages include programmed salary increments that are followed and implemented as an employee goes up the ladder. “Graduates are not only looking for high salaries; they are also eyeing long-term careers, job stability, and the opportunity to upgrade their skills,” Al-Kharobi said. According to Al-Kharobi another reason why companies are trying to attract more graduates to join their organization is the declining number of university graduates who suit their human resource development targets. “The increasing need for competent university graduates, the strong competition between local and joint venture firms to build the strong human resources needed for long-term expansion, and the declining number of graduates in the engineering and process industries are reasons why our young graduates are being offered better pay and incentives,” Al
