JEDDAH: A Ministry of Labor team is set to conduct a survey to determine the number of unemployed citizens who qualify for financial aid recently announced in a royal decree. The conditions for receiving the aid have not yet been set. However, “it will be limited”, said a ministry official. “The ministry will have a database and a central body inside the ministry tasked with following up on those receiving the aid and to offer them job opportunities as soon as they are available. Those found by the ministry not willing or not serious [about work] will be deprived of the aid,” he added. The ministry's team will consist of experts from Saudi Arabia and abroad. The study is to be conducted in cooperation with the ministries of Economy and Planning and Civil Service. Sources said the study will take into consideration citizens who were supported previously by the Human Resources Fund and other bodies. It will also use results of field research that were conducted previously on unemployment, including the ministry's survey last year. They said the team will also study the experiences of advanced countries in providing financial aid to the unemployed. A royal decree last week ordered temporary financial aid for “youth seeking jobs” from the reserves of the Human Resources Development Fund. The order also stated that after one year, the General Organization of Social Security is to set up a cooperative insurance program for the unemployed and support job seekers through its own resources. This would be the first of a group of incentives and regulations that is expected to boost the Saudization program. The royal order tasked the Ministry of Labor with implementing the two programs in about three months, before the programs are submitted to the Permanent Committee at the Supreme Economic Council for further study and recommendations.
