• Bab Rizq Jameel: 70% of job opportunities created in 2014 were for females

Job creation within the private sector in Saudi Arabia is thriving as evidenced by the 2014 job creation results released today by specialist organization, Bab Rizq Jameel. Bab Rizq Jameel- translated, ‘beautiful gateway to prosperity’ – is an initiative of Abdul Latif Jameel Community Initiatives (ALJCI), the corporate social responsibility arm of Abdul Latif Jameel, one of the largest independent distributors of Toyota vehicles in the world.

According to Bab Rizq Jameel, the organization generated 75,030* job opportunities (unverified) in Saudi Arabia in 2014, a 10% increase over its 2013 results and a new record for the organization which was established in Saudi Arabia in 2003. In 2014, of the 75,030 job opportunities created in Saudi Arabia, an encouraging 70% were for females. Since 2003, and inclusive of the 2014 achievement, BRJ estimates it has generated a total of 412,772* job opportunities in Saudi Arabia.

Unverified figures showed that 52,244 job opportunities were created for Saudi women through Bab Rizq Jameel’s female-only branches, representing 70% of the total job opportunities created during 2014 in Saudi Arabia, whilst 22,786 job opportunities (30%) were created for males.

Commenting on this record achievement and the high percentage of female in 2014 employment, Abdulrahman Al Fehaid, Executive Director of Bab Rizq Jameel Saudi Arabia, said: “the trust Saudi companies and other establishments place in Bab Rizq Jameel’s capability to introduce suitable female candidates for the available job opportunities was indispensable in creating these opportunities.”

Bab Rizq Jameel generates job opportunities in Saudi Arabia through a variety of innovative job creation programmes. These include:

  1. The Productive Household Programme, which targets low-income families, specifically females, aged between 18 and 70, who prefer to work from home on a micro project. The programme provides financial, technical, administrative and marketing support. Loans ranging from Saudi Riyals (SR) 2,000 to 6,000 are provided to the applicant, to help the women produce and sell products. The programme also facilitates marketing activities, displaying products in markets, at exhibitions, and during trade events, or uses social media to promote the products of the beneficiaries. This programme has created 24,939 job opportunities for females in Saudi Arabia in 2014.
  2. The Small Projects Finance programme assisted 2,181 small start-up projects during 2014 in Saudi Arabia. This programme targets and provides young men and women, who have creative ideas but lack the financial resources, with interest-free loans starting from SR10, 000 up to SR 300,000 with a repayment period of up to five years to implement new or expand existing projects.
  3. The Direct Employment Programme aims to match the skills and qualifications of job seekers with suitable vacancies. The programme provided direct employment for 38,048 people in Saudi Arabia in 2014, representing an increase of almost 33% compared to 2013, when 28,774 job opportunities were created.
  4. The Working Remotely programme created a record number of 7,496 job opportunities for females in 2014 comparing to 3399 job opportunities in 2013, representing an increase of more than 120%. This programme provides female work without the requirement to attend the workplace, meeting the needs of a family environment and opening up new fields of employment, thus creating more job opportunities to satisfy demand. The programme offers several positions, such as telesales, marketing, telemarketing, call centre work and customer service for example.
  5. The Training Resulting in Employment programme created 1,245 job opportunities across Saudi Arabia during 2014. In this programme, young men and women receive training to sharpen their skills in areas required by the Saudi labour market. All training courses organized through this programme result in positions within the private sector.
  6. The Taxi Ownership programme created 600 job opportunities during 2014. In this programme young Saudi men are given supported financial assistance to own their vehicles with the end goal to be self-sufficient taxi drivers.
  7. The Truck Ownership programme, works in the same manner as the taxi programme allowing young Saudi men to eventually own their own truck, and using it to transport goods, vegetables, equipment and passengers. This generated 287 jobs across Saudi Arabia in 2014.
  8. Stadium job opportunity programme. This was newly launched at the beginning of 2014 and has been very successful in creating over 818 temporary jobs for young people during Saudi League football matches. The title sponsor of the Saudi professional football league is Abdul Latif Jameel Group.

In addition to these official programmes, Bab Rizq Jameel’s vocational training for females at the Nafisa Shams Academy for Arts and Crafts in Jeddah and its Working from Home programme was attended by 1635 students in 2014. The Academy was established in 2006 as a training centre under the training resulting in employment programme. It provides diverse art and crafts courses for job seekers, responding to market demand. The courses offer training in tailoring, fashion design, cooking, photography and carpet production, as well as prepare students for secretarial work.

Established in 2003, BRJ helps to create job opportunities for young men and women, matches suitable vacancies and employers with qualified job seekers, creates an appropriate environment in which the owners of small projects can flourish, and supports beneficiaries of working remotely, work from home, and other BRJ programmes.

“The outstanding results of our Bab Rizq Jameel programmes, as well as the output of our 26 branches, is a clear indication that we are on the right path to help people make a living through job opportunities we can open up for them.” Al Fehaid said.

It is worth mentioning that Bab Rizq Jameel also operates and has branches in Egypt, Morocco and Turkey and over 56,000 job opportunities were created in 2014 in these countries.