Saudi Arabia launches Skills Verification Program to assess workers' efficiency

Logo of Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development

The Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development announced today, March 7, 2021, the launch of the Skills Verification Program.

According to a ministerial statement, the program aims to verify a worker’s necessary basic skills, for which the person was invited to work in the Kingdom. The skills will be assessed through practical and theoretical tests in the respective fields.

The verification program seeks to improve the quality of professional workers in the Saudi labor market, raise the level of services provided, enhance productivity, and stop the flow of unqualified workers to the Kingdom labor market.

The program has a two-pronged approach. The first, aims to vet professional workers in home countries in cooperation with the international test centers; while the second, aims to assess workers currently in the Kingdom, through accredited local test centers.

The Ministry called on all entities to start the process of assessing employees present in the Kingdom, as they will be gradually obligated, according to the entity size, starting from July 2021.

For external assessment, the work visa for the targeted professions will gradually be linked to expatriates clearing the skills verification in home country, according to an activation plan and in cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the workers’ countries.

The Skills Verification Program targets more than 1,000 specialized professions that fall under 23 occupations, according to the Saudi Standard Classification of Occupations.

As a professional accreditation program, the move seeks to regulate the labor market and improve the labor quality in the Kingdom.

The Ministry of Human Resources urged all entities interested in skills verification of their workers to visit the program website through the link during the optional period starting from tomorrow, Monday, March 8, 2021.

It also called on specialized centers, which wish to obtain accreditation as test centers, to register through the same link, in order to allow the ministry to verify their eligibility and competence before granting them permissions to conduct such tests.