Vision 2030 targets Kingdom ranking among the world's most competitive economies

Saudi Arabia has embarked on a journey to become one of the most competitive economies in the region and the rest of the world, following the announcement of Vision 2030, and “we are moving in the right direction, says a top talent solutions management executive.
“In fact, the Council of Economic and Development Affairs has outlined ambitious plans of Vision 2030,” Ali Matar, head of LinkedIn Talent Solutions for Southern Europe, Middle East and North Africa, said in an interview with Arab News.
He pointed out that fostering local talent is essential to supporting the three pillars of Vision 2030; namely, creating a vibrant society, a thriving economy and an ambitious nation. Moreover, talent will prove instrumental in making the Kingdom a logistics hub, a financial services capital, and a driver of non-religious tourism.
“There are of course challenges in a competitive global landscape of around 788 million professionals and knowledge workers, with around 60 to 70 million companies in the world vying for the talent of tomorrow,” Matar added.
The Internet-based technologies will play a fundamental role in helping facilitate the transition of the people to these jobs within Saudi Arabia, he stressed.
Speaking about Saudi work force in terms of key challenges and opportunities, Matar said Saudi Arabia is one of the largest labor markets in the region today. The Saudi job market is widely driven by youth, with estimates put at 60-70 percent of the population under the age of 30. Current employment fairs in the Kingdom are helping to pitch hundreds of thousands of graduates to prospective employers.
Saudi Arabia has twice been ranked third globally in terms of attracting talent annually; the Kingdom added 0.85 percent of its work force in 2014-2015.
Speaking about what Saudi employers need to focus on in order to attract and retain the right talent in such a dynamic marketplace, he said there is a winding down of jobs-for-life in the public sector, which is being replaced with career opportunities in the private sector.
“Leadership of senior management is key during this transformation phase as we know that poor performance in employee engagement often leads to a high level of staff turnover. Both the public and private sector organizations are now investing significantly in building their Employer Brand and positioning themselves as a desirable place to work — something that the younger generations are particularly cognizant of,” he noted.
Matar said: “We know that Saudis are a highly connected population, especially on mobile. More and more employers in Saudi Arabia are starting to effectively engage candidates on these channels through social platforms, but there are still a lot of industries only starting down that journey.”
Regarding the skills of the work force, he pointed out that the next generation of the Saudi work force has traditionally been equipped with skills fit for the jobs of yesterday, not the jobs of today, and more importantly not the jobs of tomorrow.
“In a recent survey, we found that around 72 percent of the Kingdom’s employers say it is hard to find a candidate who possesses all the required skills. Moreover, 75 percent of jobseekers and professionals believe that there are many who currently hold jobs that do not match their skills and qualifications,” Matar said.
“Technology is a particularly strong area of demand today. This includes skills in cloud computing, statistical analysis and data mining, digital marketing, mobile development, network and information security.”
About LinkedIn’s role in contributing toward Vision 2030, he said: LinkedIn can play a massive role through providing unique insights on all the skills available versus the skills needed in the current job market and the economic opportunities that are available.
“We’ve already been able to help people learn more about skills, learn from their networks about jobs, and evaluate universities according to their career outcomes. We are also conducting more analysis and research done in-house on the Saudi job market, and are providing that to local businesses, government and academic institutes.”
“In our first year in the Middle East, LinkedIn reached one million users in Saudi Arabia. That has already grown by more than 100 percent, from one million to more than two million on the platform today.”
LinkedIn launched its Arabic platform in March 2015, with the aim to reach the 300 million Arabic speakers across the globe and make it easier for them to create profiles and establish their professional online brand through the language of their mother tongue.
“Ever since the launch, we have witnessed an incredible boost on the number of daily signups from across the Middle East and North Africa region. In addition, the Kingdom is currently number one in the world whose talent is utilizing our LinkedIn Arabic platform and the second across the region with the most engaged employees,” he said.
“We have also seen great well-represented companies from the Kingdom’s companies such as Saudi Aramco, Saudi Telecom Company (STC) and Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) with more than 55,000 employees present on the platform,” Matar added.

Source: Arab News