Nurturing local talent is key to powering Saudi’s private sector

The greatest asset any nation has is its people. The talent you can find in Saudi Arabia is an incredibly rich resource that has the power to drive the Kingdom’s private sector toward becoming one of the most vibrant and competitive in the world.

Tapping into local talent must therefore be a priority, and strategies within all sectors must be developed to identify and nurture it. The government’s Saudization strategy, which is in line with Vision 2030, is supporting the Kingdom’s private sector to identify and keep local talent.

Saudization, supported by the recruitment and HR initiatives of the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development and the Human Resources Development Fund, will strengthen in the long-term the Kingdom’s economy by diversifying it.

The country has a wealth of young, driven and energetic individuals working across sectors, with women making up a huge part of that pool.  

In fact, the private-sector labor force participation rate of Saudi women increased from 20 percent in 2018 to 33 percent by the end of 2020. We are expecting this upward trend to continue in 2022.

It is clear that Saudi Arabia has talent in abundance. But Saudization is not just about mining talent — it must also be nurtured. Organizations have a responsibility to upskill their employees, support them with career development and training programs, and empower them to continue to deliver real value to the business.

Saudi Arabia is charged with massive potential, with the largest organizations having the needed resources and the tools to realize this potential. Ultimately, we must be prepared to invest heavily in our people and in supporting the government’s ecosystem for discovering and developing top talent.

Only then we can fully leverage our country’s greatest asset.     

• Yasser Al-Qahtani is head of Human Resources at Landmark Arabia.