Saudi Arabia’s skilled workers are to be assessed to ensure they are qualified for their jobs, according to a media report.

Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development (HRSD) has announced the launch of the “Professional Verification” program on Sunday, in cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Technical and Vocational Training Corporation.

The minister said on his official Twitter account: “Today (Sunday) we launched the Professional Verification program, to ensure the competence of skilled workers in the Saudi labour market.”

The program aims to verify that all skilled workers in Saudi Arabia have the required skills to perform the occupation they were recruited for, and will include practical and theoretical examinations in the workers’ specialized fields. It will target more than 1,000 professions belonging to 23 fields as per the Saudi Standard Classification of Occupations.

The program, which starts in July, seeks to improve the quality of skilled workers in the Saudi labour market, enhance their productivity, improve the services they provide and reduce the influx of unqualified workers.

The program will examine all skilled workers in their home country before their arrival in the Kingdom, in cooperation with selected international examination centres. It will also examine existing skilled workers in the Kingdom.

HRSD is urging all establishments to begin the verification process by registering on the program’s website — https://svp.qiwa.sa/ — for all their skilled workers, as the verification will gradually be enforced this summer.

Centres interested in becoming licensed to conduct the program’s examination are advised to register at the same link.

Work visas for the targeted jobs will be linked to the skilled workers passing the examination in their home country and will be enforced on a gradual basis in accordance with a roll-out plan developed with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the countries sending labour to the Kingdom. This falls under the ministry’s “Professional Accreditation” system.