Makkah

THINK about this question. What is the work of the Civil Service Ministry except receiving statements of job requirements of other ministries and government departments and setting out a schedule to supply their manpower requirements?

I am sure that some Shoura members are unaware of the nature of the ministry’s work and believe that it’s in charge of all employment activities. But in reality it’s not true.

As a result of this situation, the Shoura Council will soon discuss a proposal by its administrative and human resources committee to provide employment powers to the ministries of health and education to complete employment procedures at the two ministries.

The proposal was actually made to reduce the burden of the Ministry of Civil Service, according to a report carried by Okaz Arabic daily, a sister publication of Saudi Gazette. The Shoura committee members still believe that the ministry is burdened by overwork.

The committee believes that the ministry should provide employment powers to the ministries of education and health and will set out certain rules and regulations to ensure justice. If the Ministry of Civil Service accepts this proposal it would become a jobless ministry.

I am still convinced that one of the major obstacles facing employment is that the jobseekers have to look for vacancies in every ministry and department, apply for them and sit for their exams. Actually all these procedures can be done by the Civil Service Ministry.

The Ministry of Civil Service is in charge of employment but it’s not shouldering its responsibility. It distributes some jobs among ministries and government departments and gives them guidelines on how to fill those vacancies. It also announces the schedule for employment.

On the other hand, other organizations advertise their vacant positions, receive applications, select the qualified applicants, conduct personal interviews and announce the names of people qualified to fill the vacant jobs and pass the list to the Ministry of Civil Service for its approval. Actually, these works do not come under these departments’ responsibilities.

Since all the government administrative jobs come under the Ministry of Civil Service, it is its duty to do all employment-related jobs completely instead of allowing other ministries and government departments to do its basic duty. The Ministry of Civil Service is wasting its time and energy by just concentrating on receiving job applications of Saudis.

The Ministry of Civil Service should have set up a database of jobseekers based on applications by jobless Saudis and one-time application is enough to collect this data. It will help the ministry to know the qualification, experience and job priorities of applicants.

The Civil Service Ministry can distribute these applicants among the ministries and government departments that require employees. This is much better than forcing jobseekers to look for every vacancy at various government departments and apply for them.

If the Shoura Council proposal is approved by higher authorities giving employment powers to the Ministries of Education and Health, I would like to suggest that the Ministry of Civil Service should be given its previous status (bureau) instead of keeping it as a ministry.