Minister of Labor Dr Ghazi Al-Qusaibi issued a statement today saying that a campaign organized by his ministry had determined that the number of Saudis seeking jobs was currently 155,579, representing 4.9 percent of the total Saudi male work force. Most of the job-seekers, he commented, are young men whose ages range from 16 to 25, adding that there is not yet enough data regarding females.

Dr Al-Qusaibi went on to comment that the next step is to find jobs for these young men in cooperation with the Human Resources Fund, which is designed to support the private sector by shouldering part of the financial burden of a new employee. He predicted that half of the job-seekers would be recruited over the next few months. He confirmed that work visas are being restricted for expatriates in private sector establishments, commenting that this measure is not designed to prevent foreigners from working in the Kingdom but rather to give priority to Saudi nationals.

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