Employment Opportunities in Saudi Arabia

Among all GCC countries, Saudi Arabia is one country that is witnessing spiraling growth across all sectors. This has created a huge demand for manpower in the country and skilled workforce is required across all sectors in Saudi Arabia. Plenty of job opportunities in Saudi Arabia would be generated in the construction, petrochemical, IT, education, hospitality, oil and gas jobs and automobile industries. The main driving factor behind this economic and job growth is the multi-billion dollar King Abdullah Economic City (KAEC) which is coming up at Rabigh, near Jeddah. Also, Jubail Industrial City in the Kingdom’s Eastern Province is under expansion. While the government prefers to hire Saudi nationals first, there is still huge scope for expatriates to grab lucrative jobs in Saudi Arabia.

Indian skilled professionals are especially in demand in Saudi Arabia as they are not just hard-working but also available at much lower salaries than the workforce from West. Also, those jobseekers who know Arabic are much higher in demand then the non-Arabic speaking ones. Thus, there are enough jobs in Saudi Arabia in both the public as well as the private sector for those who can speak Arabic along with other skills of theirs.

In Saudi Arabia, the development in the real estate sector is happening in leaps and bounds. Foreign companies are also investing in this growing market as Saudi Arabia is undoubtedly the fastest growing real estate market in the world. Currently, there is a shortage of 500,000 houses in the Kingdom and it is expected to rise to one million by 2012 because the population in the region is also growing very fast. Saudi Arabia is the largest real estate market in GCC in terms of the commercial (office, retail and residential) floor space. The current commercial space is likely to grow by more than 60 percent by 2012, with the residential sector will also see significant growth. This has led to the generation of numerous real estate and construction jobs in Saudi Arabia.

Talking of hospitality sector, Saudi Arabia is the main religious hub of Islam so most travel to the Kingdom is religious tourism. However, with the rapid growth of business in the region, even business travel is bound to grow creating numerous job opportunities in Saudi Arabia in the fields of hotel, aviation and other sectors related to travel and tourism. The hotel industry catering to tourists coming for business, religious or domestic purposes is witnessing a good trajectory of growth too. Thus, for those looking for jobs in Saudi Arabia, this is a very opportune time.

Then, there are other sectors such as the automobile sector and the oil and gas sector that can do with skilled manpower from overseas in hordes. The IT and banking sectors are also recruiting expatriates with the right qualifications and skills to fill up positions that cannot be taken up by the locals. Thus, there is no dearth of employment opportunities in Saudi Arabia if only one knows where to look for the right job and tap into these opportunities. While applying for jobs in Saudi Arabia or any other country of the Gulf, one should go by established route only. Vacancies are posted in newspapers and on eth websites of the companies where one can look for and apply to a suitable job. One can also register oneself with known and registered recruitment agencies.

Once a candidate is short listed, he would be invited for an interview and other rounds by the company. The expenses will be borne by the employer only. If you are selected for the job, you would be given a job offer but you would require sponsorship to stay in Saudi Arabia. Generally, the employer is the sponsor. Jobs in Saudi Arabia are quite lucrative. High salaries are the biggest attraction that pulls expatriates into the region. Your salary package would generally include accommodation charges; return fare for your home country once a year and other emoluments. This would be mentioned in your contract. Since it is a tax-free zone, all you earn is for you to keep. Those who work in Saudi Arabia can make life time savings within 2-3 years. This has made Saudi Arabia an attractive career destination for the skilled foreign workforce despite its war-torn history.

Useful links:

www.naukrigulf.com/ http://www.naukrigulf.com/ni/nijobsearch/loc-jobs-saudi/

Geetika Jain writes on behalf of NaukriGulf.com, a leading job portal for jobs in Gulf Region, Jobs in Saudi Arabia, Middle East jobs. Naukri.com's foray into the Middle East is an Endeavour to provide established client base with services that best meet their international requirements as well as expand our operations on to a global arena.