Information Technology (IT) professionals in Saudi Arabia comprise around four percent of the total workforce. The total Saudi IT workforce is estimated at 220,000 professionals, and nearly 8,000 IT jobs are created in the local IT market every year, according to a new market survey conducted by Dubai-based Madar Research Group.
IT professionals in Saudi Arabia constitute the second largest IT community in the Arab world after Egypt, the survey reveals. The IT industry alone accounts for about 66 percent of the market demand for IT professionals in the Kingdom. The hydrocarbon sector and services sector also have an equal share totaling to over 14 percent of all IT jobs.
“Saudi Arabia has laid the infrastructure for a strong IT-based industry and current developments show that the Kingdom is poised for a major leap in the field of IT,” said Ahmed Ali Ashadawi, President and CEO of regional IT and communications solution provider Al-Falak.
“These developments combined with a renewed commitment by the authorities to provide greater employment opportunities to citizens are commendable,” he added. Al-Falak has a specialized Human Resources Division dedicated to recruiting, retaining and developing fully skilled professionals in IT, engineering and communications.
Commenting on the imbalance between job opportunities and the growing number of qualified and highly talented Saudi job seekers, Ashadawi added, “National unemployment figures are estimated to stand at eight percent at present.”
“The government has already put into place various projects for training the large number of unemployed Saudis. However, the private sector must contribute equally to combating the problem of unemployment amongst the nationals.”
“The long-standing and extensive investment policies of the Saudi Government have facilitated the penetration of IT into all sectors of the Saudi economy. The eReadiness of the average Saudi professional is already fairly high. Therefore, the IT sector is ideally suited for training and absorbing the unemployed nationals into the workforce,” said Ashadawi.
Al-Falak Electronic Equipment & Supplies Company is a supplier of network solutions, computer hardware, application software, manpower and IT consultancy services within the Middle East. Since its formation in 1981, the company has provided the information infrastructure organizations, ranging from government ministries, universities in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar and Oman, as well as domestic and international private companies. – (menareport.com)
© 2003 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
