Which is the most appealing organization for Saudi’s youth?

Despite the drastic changes the oil and gas industry witnessed in the last two years, the fact remains that black gold still retains its allure for Saudi’s youth. This amply clear in latest survey conducted by Oxford Strategic Consulting, which asked 300 Saudis below the age of 30 about their opinions regarding employment in the Kingdom.

Over half the respondents, who were allowed to select multiple industries, believe the ideal career for them lies in the Oil & Gas sector, 46 percent think it is in Banking and Financial Services sector, 31 percent t prefer the Public sector, while 28 percent choose healthcare.

Aramco seen as ideal organization

The survey digs deeper and asks the participants about their ideal organization, and 51 percent chose Aramco for the social and financial stability it provides. While a quarter prefers a hospital or Saudi Arabia Basic Industries Corporation also known as SABIC, 15 percent aspire to get a job in a ministry or Saudi Airlines and 12 percent pick Al-Marai, Riyadh Bank or Abdul Latif Jameel.

These findings are promising for healthcare, Aviation and Banking sectors. Private and semi-private companies within these sectors should support employment by hiring more Saudis, which will help achieve one of Saudi’s Visions to reduce unemployment rate from today’s 11.6 percent to 7 percent in 2030, especially that two-thirds of the Kingdom’s 29 million population is under the age of 30.

Tourism, Hotels least popular

However, the survey finds that the least popular sectors for Saudi’s youth include manufacturing, Media and Tourism & Hotels. In fact, all Gulf countries excluding the UAE are struggling in attracting local talent because of the negative perceptions this sector is associated with.

Six out of 10 respondents want to run their own businesses, thus this might increase job opportunities in the Small and Medium sized sectors (SMEs), which bodes well with Saudi’s Vision 2030 to increase SME contribution to gross domestic product to 35 percent from 20 percent.

Youth aspirations and Kingdom’s strategy

Saudi’s youth aspirations go hand in hand with the Kingdom’s strategy of increasing its reliance on the private sector, as according to the survey, 57 percent of respondents consider the private sector “extremely important” for employment, with only 6 percent believing that it is “not important at all”.