Only 11,000 Saudi engineers out of 35,000 in the country, or 31.4 percent, are registered with the Saudi Council of Engineers (SCE).

This figure includes 500 female engineers, Abdulnasir Al-Abdullatif, head of public relations at the SCE, was reported as saying recently.

Over the last three years, some 175,000 engineers registered with the SCE, which includes the 11,000 Saudis. Female engineers only make up 5 percent of the total, said Al-Abdullatif.

The SCE would soon have 200,000 engineers registered, he said.
There are 35,000 foreigners working in engineering jobs but not holding degrees, while another 1,600 were busted for holding forged certificates and referred to the Bureau of Investigation and Public Prosecution, he said.

The SCE previously allowed expatriates working in the country on engineering visas without degrees to correct their status. Some of these people include those working in plumbing, carpentry and similar jobs, which fall within the engineering industry, he said.

He said there are many engineering jobs available in the public and private sectors. The private sector needs at least 35,000 Saudi engineers.

There were 9,700 Saudi engineers in the government sector five years ago but this dropped to 5,500, he said.

Al-Abdullatif said the low turnover of staff in government was because engineers were allegedly not paid well and shunted into administrative jobs. New graduates are reluctant to work in the public sector, he said.

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