RIYADH: Artificial intelligence, robotics and automation are creating new opportunities while displacing traditional roles, Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Human Resources and Social Development Ahmad Al-Rajhi said in his opening remarks at a conference in Riyadh on Monday.
Al-Rajhi was speaking during the opening of the third Global Labor Market Conference, which is being held under the theme “Future in Progress” and brings together decision-makers, thought leaders and experts from around the world.
“Expect significant growth in tech-centric jobs like AI specialists and data analysts, while roles such as data entry and administrative assistants may decline,” he said.
Al-Rajhi added that the green transition is driving demand for renewable energy engineers and environmental specialists.
“We will see a surge in green jobs as industries adapt to climate goals,” he said.
The minister also pointed to broader economic and geopolitical pressures shaping labor markets globally, including rising living costs and slowing growth.
“Rising living costs and economic slowdowns will shape which skills are most valued, like resilience, flexibility and creative thinking,” he said.
Al-Rajhi added that demographic shifts, including aging populations in some regions and expanding working-age populations in others, will continue to influence labor supply and demand, increasing the need for healthcare, training and inclusive job creation.
Turning to the global youth employment challenge, he said international trends highlight the urgency of coordinated action.
“More than 262 million young people worldwide are not in employment, education or training in many regions, and job creation is not keeping pace with population growth, while other countries are facing the pressure of aging workforces and rising dependency ratios,” Al-Rajhi said, citing international estimates.
He added that rapid technological change is outpacing education and training systems, making continuous upskilling essential across both advanced and emerging economies.
“These pressures differ by region, but they are too complex for countries to address in isolation,” he said.
Highlighting Saudi Arabia’s domestic workforce transformation, Al-Rajhi said more than 2.5 million Saudis have joined the private sector since 2020, describing young men and women as a growing national asset driving new fields and skills development.
“These indicators, among others, show an economy movement for people who are investing in themselves, learning, competing and shaping the future with confidence,” he said.
During the event, Saudi Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources Bandar Al-Khorayef announced the launch of an occupations and skills framework for the mining and industrial sectors, aimed at clarifying job roles and workforce requirements.
He said the framework will cover more than 500 occupations and outline the skills, job descriptions and titles needed across the sectors, helping private companies, educators and training providers to align workforce development with industry demand.
“This is an important framework to allow different players in the ecosystem, from private sector who will actually need (those) kinds of jobs, but it will allow, I think, most importantly, training and the training ecosystem,” Al-Khorayef said
Saudi Minister of Tourism Ahmed Al-Khateeb added global travel is expected to continue rising over the next decade, driving demand for tourism workers as the Kingdom expands new destinations and cities.
He said the global tourism sector is expected to create 91 million jobs by 2035, while facing a projected shortfall of 43 million workers.
“(This is) good news for the job market in Saudi Arabia. We’re projecting to create an additional 400,000 jobs to 600,000 jobs in the next five to six years, just to fill the new destinations, the new cities that we are building today.”
Al-Khateeb added that tourism does not require highly specialized skills in the same way as sectors such as engineering or medicine, but instead builds soft skills that can deliver positive outcomes.
He said that employment in the tourism sector has risen sharply since the Kingdom launched its tourism strategy in 2019, contributing to job creation and lower unemployment, and underscoring the importance of training and workforce development.
“When we launched tourism back in 2019, we used to have 750,000 people working in the sector. Last year, we surpassed 1 million,” he said.
He added that tourism has become one of the most impactful sectors for reducing unemployment and creating jobs, with an emphasis on ensuring that workers entering the industry are well trained.
Muhammad Al-Jasser, chairman of the Islamic Development Bank Group, said infrastructure investment plays a key role in driving economic growth, development and job creation, citing its strong multiplier effect across sectors.
Al-Jasser also cited a recent World Bank statement at the World Economic Forum in Davos on the scale of the labor market challenge ahead.
“There would be 1.2 billion (entering) the labor market in the next 10 years … but only 400 million jobs will be opening up,” he said.
He added that the growing global focus on job creation will be decisive in determining whether development succeeds or falls short in the years ahead.
The event will run from Jan. 26–27 and will focus on six key pillars: trade changes and employment; informal economies; the new global skills landscape; the real impact of artificial intelligence on jobs and productivity; building resilient labor markets in times of crisis; and improving job quality, with particular attention to youth as the foundation of the future economy.
