Chairman’s message

The Human Resources Development Fund (HRDF) plays an important role in partnership with a number of entities in the public and private sectors to empower and enhance the capacities of Saudi nationals and nurture their talents and competencies, with a view to scale up their participation in the labour market.

Praise be to Allah; prayers and peace be upon His Prophet

At the outset, on behalf of my colleagues of the HRDF Board, I am pleased to extend our profound gratitude and appreciation to King Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, May Allah Protect Him, and His Royal Highness Mohammad Bin Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Crown Prince, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence, May Allah Protect Him, for their directions and perpetual support of the sons and daughters of our country and for the objective to increase the participation of Saudi nationals in the cultural and economic development occurring in the Kingdom at present.

A strategy focusing on three main goals

This year has witnessed remarkable transformation in the evolution of HRDF, based on a strategic roadmap with three major goals: Supporting the employment and training of the national labour force in the private sector; providing programmes, services and studies which respond to changes in the labour market and fulfil customer expectations, and achieving excellence in performance and improving the competency of human resources and the efficiency of financial and technical resources. The deliverables of this roadmap are closely aligned with the goals of the national transformation plan and Saudi Vision 2030 and HRDF’s programmes and recent initiatives seeking to achieve sustainable Saudisation in the Kingdom.

Developing programmes and services

Out of the keenness of HRDF to develop and restructure existing programmes and initiatives to keep pace with the rapid changes in the labour market, it was important to develop and update the mechanisms of programmes which target the Fund’s customers and beneficiaries based on the new strategy and to achieve the goals of initiatives and empower the sons and daughters of our country. In order to enhance service provision, the National Labour Observatory, one of HRDF national initiatives, provides data, studies, and valuable information about the present and future needs of the labour market in partnership with competent bodies and by constructing reliable indicators which reflect the realities of the Saudi labour market with all its partners, contribute to improving and developing the labour market, and support decision-making.

Bridging the skills gap

One of the challenges facing the Saudi labour market is reflected in the existing gap between the skills of national cadres and the labour market requirements. In this regard, HRDF started to support institutions which employ Saudi men and women through the employment support programme which aims to improve the skills of human resources. Through this programme, HRDF contributes a percentage of the wages paid to Saudi men and women working in the private sector in order to encourage private sector institutions to employ nationals and provide them with on-the-job training, with the ultimate goal of increasing the participation of human resources in the labour market and providing them with the necessary skills required by different economic sectors.

Eng Ahmed bin Suleiman Al Rajhi

Minister of Labour and Social Development, and
Chairman, Human Resources Development Fund