The Saudi Council of Engineers and the Human Resources Development Fund (Hadaf) have called on engineering firms and companies in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to support and hire Saudi engineers seeking employment, and to create suitable job opportunities for them, by posting available engineering positions on the Taqat website https://taqat.sa and taking advantage of this initiative to hire Saudi engineers, where engineers are registered and cataloged through various online platforms and links on the Authority’s and Hadaf websites, using an advanced system that details their engineering specialization, academic degrees, experience (if any), age, gender, national ID number, and contact information.
His Excellency Dr. Jamil bin Jarallah Al-Baqawi, Chairman of the Authority’s Board of Directors, explained this, noting that the recruitment channels agreed upon with Hadaf include a link for job seekers on the Authority’s website www.saudieng.sa where detailed data on job seekers is organized by geographic distribution and updated monthly, and forwarded to specialists at the Human Resources Development Fund to explore employment opportunities through the Fund’s recruitment channels, in addition to organizing job fairs between them and employers, and to take advantage of the Fund’s branches and offices to hold job fairs with private-sector companies in the engineering field.
Al-Baqawi added that the "Taqat" website helps the private sector recruit Saudi talent from various segments of the job-seeking population, as it provides job seekers with opportunities for assessment, training, and guidance, and facilitates the right job-matching to ensure sustainable employment, This integrated platform serves all segments of the labor market in both the public and private sectors, aiming to ensure synergy and coordination among the various initiatives and programs of the labor system to serve individuals, employers, service providers, and government agencies, while focusing on the job seeker’s career path, with services available to everyone.
He noted that engineers can benefit from numerous support programs for companies and job-seeking agencies, both before and after employment. These are among the programs discussed by the Authority with the goal of benefiting engineers; for example, but not limited to, the Direct Employment Support Program for job seekers, and the Additional Wage Support Program, which provides financial support equivalent to half the salary of a Saudi employee, up to a maximum of 4,000 riyals per month, for a period of up to 4 years, for establishments in the Platinum or Green categories, or very small establishments (9 employees or fewer), among others
Al-Baqawi stated that the Authority will provide the Fund with details regarding the nature of the training program and the specific requirements and specialized skills it must cover in the engineering sector, which will enable recent engineering graduates to gain practical experience that helps them secure jobs in private-sector companies, in addition to utilizing the "Doroob" online platform to access specialized online courses in the engineering sector, through coordination between the Authority and the Droob program, and to guide job seekers and engineers to access and benefit from the online services provided on the Droob website.
It is worth noting that the Saudi Council of Engineers and the Human Resources Fund have held several meetings on this topic to help identify suitable job opportunities for Saudi engineers, in addition to supporting them through training and preparation for entering the job market, Discussions also focused on linking the issuance of work visas to first drawing from lists of job seekers; if no suitable candidates are available, recruitment requests will be approved, Another factor that will contribute to the employment of Saudi engineers is the decision previously issued by the Authority’s Board of Directors to limit the registration of non-Saudi engineers to those with more than three years of experience.
The Authority and Hadaf have also agreed to organize joint online and in-person job fairs based on genuine job opportunities, resulting in the direct hiring of engineers and technicians through these platforms, The fair will be jointly promoted in a professional manner to encourage both job seekers and employers to participate in this specialized event and engage seriously in the process, in the best interest of the nation.
This agreement between the Authority and Hadaf aims to support job-seeking engineers and recent graduates by equipping them with the experience required to enter the job market, as well as to foster fair professional competition to provide jobs for Saudi engineers with appropriate salaries.
