National Skills Week Boosts Saudi Youth Talent

A week-long national campaign called Skills Week, run under the theme “Skills First,” has been rolling out to sharpen the talents of Saudi youth by connecting their training more closely with the real needs of the labor market. Held in its most recent edition from 13–19 July 2025, the campaign is timed around World Youth Skills Day (15 July).

The initiative focuses on aligning youth training with current and future job requirements and career pathways, while bringing existing national training and employment programs together under the umbrella of Vision 2030. A central goal is to promote a national skills framework and sectoral frameworks that standardize occupations and the skills they require.

The scale is ambitious. Under Phase II of the Waad Initiative, more than 3 million training slots are planned by 2028. A new Sector Skills Framework showcased during the week maps over 8,500 skills across 12 sectors, while the launch of the National Skills Platform provides a single online access point for skills and training services.

Why it matters

For university students, vocational trainees, and recent graduates, the campaign offers clearer guidance on the skills employers actually want and the emerging sectors where jobs are growing. Sectoral collaboration includes an Industry and Mining Occupations and Skills Framework standardizing more than 500 industrial occupations, 300 specialties, 600 skills, and 900 certifications.

Activities include awareness campaigns on priority-sector skills, showcases of upskilling programs, and engagement with private-sector partners to co-design training aligned with real vacancies. Skills-related services are accessed through the dedicated National Skills Platform portal.

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