Number of citizens awaiting jobs dropped to 15,724 in September following the National Labor Department at the Public Authority for Manpower (PAM) appointing 277 citizens in the private sector.
According to statistics provided by PAM, 52.6 percent of those appointed are highly qualified and 42.9 percent are diploma holders.
The uptake of citizens by the private sector comes as a relief for the government, which has for long been attempting to encourage nationals to seek employment with private firms. The bloated public sector has for years been a drain on the government’s expenses, with salaries and wages to government employees accounting for the largest chunk of budget expenses.