The Economic City made sure before opening its doors that all facilities were provided to attract national labor.

One thousand male and female applicants looking for jobs registered in the first eight hours at the First Occupations Fair 2014 held at the King Abdullah Economic City (KAEC) recently. This level is comparable to the number of people who registered electronically for the fair, which had a total of more than 3,000 job opportunities on offer.

Twenty-five companies ranging from industries such as pharmaceuticals and foodstuffs to tourism, hotels, port administration, car-making and others participated in the job fair.

Head of Marketing and Media in the KAEC Fahd Hameed Al-Din said that the number of applicants was way above expectation of the organizers of the three-day fair. This was surprising especially since the work in the Economic City has been facing many hurdles, as well as the fact that the residential units in Madinah were not complete. He added Saudi cadres showed much enthusiasm in searching for distinguished positions with the provisions of a good working environment.

Hameed Al-Din pointed out that KAEC provided vehicles to take those interested from Jeddah to the city’s headquarters from 10 in the morning to 9 in the evening. The visitors also were taken on a tour of the Economic City to become better acquainted.

Fahd Al-Rasheed, CEO of KAEC, said the first concern of the Economic City was to attract Saudi cadres in different fields as it has been able to attract 89 local and international industrial companies.

As far as employing Saudi women are concerned, Al-Rasheed said that there were challenges with regard to providing transport and care for children, but these were overcome by putting creches at the workplace of the mother. Also, transport options have now been addressed and provided.

He said the Economic City made sure before opening its doors that all facilities were provided to attract national labor. There are also training centers and 700 men and women were trained previously, while 1,000 more will be trained in the coming months.

Al-Rasheed also said that the city is preparing housing units for all new recruits. He, however, had a word of caution for a number of male and female graduates from King Abdulaziz University. While the door is open for them, there could be obstacles associated with language and experience for them, he said.

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