Labor Ministry seeking ways to boost job market

The Labor Ministry has completed a number of studies aimed at enhancing the labor market and providing more job opportunities for citizens, the Arabic daily Al-Madinah reported Friday quoting an official source at the ministry.The official said the studies, conducted through cooperation with a number of local and international specialized firms, included one about the minimum wage in the private sector.\"About 2.8 million Saudi men and women employed by the private sector are anxiously waiting for the outcome of this study which will soon be approved,\" he added.The official said there was a study about Saudizing jobs in the insurance sector in addition to another one aimed at promoting work ethics and inculcating proper manners in office among Saudi youth. \"There is another study to Saudize jobs in the pharmaceutical sector and making all salesmen in the medical companies Saudi nationals,\" he said. According to the official, manpower in the private sector has gone up from 6.1 million in the year 2010 to 6.9 million in 2011 constituting about 84.3 percent of the total number of manpower in the Kingdom.\"The number of Saudis employed by the private sector has increased from 2.4 million to 2.8 million with an annual rise of 3.6 percent,\" he said.According to the Five-Year Development Plan 2010-2014, the strength of the Saudi manpower should increase to 53.6 percent from 47.9 percent by the year 2014.The plan also called for increasing the number of working Saudi women from 692,500 in 2009 to 948,700 in 2014.