FORMAL AND INFORMAL EMPLOYMENT

The Youth CPI Survey findings on youth employment show that almost 50% of the employed youth are involved in the informal economy in comparison to 46.6% of youth in formal employment. In cities like Riyadh and Jeddah around 60% of employment opportunities are offered by the formal economy, while in cities like Makkah and Al Hail the informal economy is prevailing. Out of the formally employed youth, the public sector provides the majority of job opportunities with an average of 73.5%, while the private sector provides only the 26.5% of the employment opportunities to the youth. At the moment, over 80% of unemployed Saudi youth would prefer jobs in the public sector due to their stability and remuneration39. In order to address this matter, Saudi Vision 203040 seeks to increase the private sector’s contribution to employment from 40% to 65% of GDP.

The Youth CPI Survey findings also show that over 50% of the employed youths earn less than 1000SR per month. This could also be attributed to the fact that most of the employed youth are part time and that majority of the youth have gained only primary and secondary education. However, the KSCLG Social Media Study outcomes confirm the overall dissatisfaction with the current occupation. In fact, less than 40% of youth and women consider themselves satisfied with their job, while around 60% declare that their current income doesn’t allow them to have the quality of life they wish.