As part of its efforts to further its workforce and diversify its economy under Vision 2030, Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Economy and Planning has joined the World Economic Forum’s Jobs Consortium, a coalition of CEOs, ministers, and other leaders with a shared vision for a better future of work for all at the WEF. 

“People are the key driver of any successful transformation and the sustainability of its outcome. Everything we do is focused on empowering our people by equipping them with the evolving set of tools and skills and creating the opportunities for them to capture, grow, and flourish,” said H.E. Faisal bin Fadhil Al-Ibrahim, the Minister of Economy and Planning. 

The new membership supports Saudi Vision 2030 “and its commitment to building a thriving, vibrant economy that creates new sectors, hundreds of thousands of new jobs, and cross-cutting innovation,” the ministry said in a press statement. 

“Moving forward, we expect the new sectors that did not exist in the past — we have sports, entertainment, culture, and tourism — to play a big role,” Al-Ibrahim said in a press statement. Further, he said that the Saudi female participation in the labor force reached 37% exceeding the initial target of 30% by 2030, while the male unemployment rate hit a record low of 4.8%.   

“We reached 2.2 million private sector jobs this year, which is a record high.”  

Saudi Arabia’s esports industry growth demonstrated the benefits of the kingdom’s diversification efforts. 

The economic diversification efforts mark the genesis of a new era making the country a global hub for the gaming industry by 2030, according to the state news agency Saudi Press Agency (SPA), which estimates will lead to the creation of 39,000 new job opportunities by 2030.