Liqaat Al-Baha Forum 2024, organized by the Saudi Arabia’s Human Resources Development Fund at Al-Baha University in the south of Saudi Arabia, ended on Wednesday with academic consensus on the need to keep up with changes in the labor market.
Professionals and academics agreed on the importance of dealing with the requirements of changes in the labor market, while the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development said that they were working in “integration” with educational authorities on the new work models around the world.
Turki Aljawini, director general of HRDF, emphasized in a dialogue session at the forum that it was focused on “business sector needs and on the demand of national human resources skills.
“We endeavor to develop professional skills for Saudis, increasing the level of their participation in the labor market, and motivating the private sector to contribute to Saudization,” he said.
Aljawini said that the fund’s new strategy, launched in the first quarter of last year, seeks to enhance the development of national human capital to meet the developing requirements of the labor market, improving the relationship between offer and demand in the labor market, and enabling employment and its sustainability in the private sector.
Dr. Ahmed Al-Zahrani, deputy minister for labor affairs, said that labor markets in the world had undergone several technological changes, and in business models and work patterns.
He said that the ministry aimed for integration with the efforts of educational institutions and supervisory authorities.
Dr. Abdullah Alhussein, president of Al-Baha University, said that due to accelerating changes in the labor market, universities were working to improve and develop their programs to keep up with labor market development and the required skills.
The workshops at the forum mainly targeted job seekers with information on how to plan job-searching, discovering occupational interests and professionalism in work.
Both male and female students focused on the topics of career counseling, how to choose a specialization, generating entrepreneurial ideas, and professions and skills of the future.
The forum included an exhibition, in which the participating establishments provided job opportunities for male and female jobseekers, along with a number of guidance and training sessions.
The forum was attended by a large number of specialists in human resources development, qualified national staff, private-sector representatives and officers of governmental agencies.