Saudi Arabia is a worldwide leader in supporting the Millennial workforce with the government allocating a substantial portion of the annual budget for education, said SAP, the largest enterprise software manufacturer.

As two-thirds of the Kingdom’s population is under 29 years old, there is a growing need for the Millennial workforce to be trained in next-generation technology skills, especially as the kingdom’s IT market is set to grow by a CAGR of 8.9 per cent to reach $14.2 billion by 2017, according to IDC.

Emphasising the support for young people’s careers, the kingdom’s record-high FY2015 budget of $229.3 billion, education is receiving the largest share at 25 per cent, or $57.9 billion.

SAP CEO Bill McDermott recently visited the kingdom to meet with key public and private sector clients, and to address Prince Sultan University students.

“Saudi Arabia is one of the world’s leaders in supporting Millennials in the workforce, and Bill McDermott’s visit underlines SAP’s commitment to training youth in the high-demand technology skills like cloud, mobility, Big Data, and social media. We’re dedicated to helping organizations to leverage the emerging generation of Millennial workers to drive business innovation,” said Ahmed Al Faifi, managing director, SAP Saudi Arabia.

During his visit, McDermott announced a partnership with SAP, Prince Sultan University, and Mobily for the SAP Education for Employment Program, which includes one year of training on cloud solutions to prepare university graduates for entering the workforce.

In Oxford Economics and SAP’s recent “Workforce 2020” survey of the Kingdom’s workforce, 60 per cent said cloud skills and 44 per cent said analytics skills would be vital in the next three years.

Meeting business needs, SAP’s Training and Development Institute provides a range of programs across the Middle East and North Africa, including the Young Professionals Program, which has graduated more than 500 students since 2013;, and the University Alliances program, with 92 academic institution members, which has exposed more than 51,000 students to SAP solutions, and SAP’s Dual Study program with six universities. In the Kingdom, SAP has also opened a new Training Center in Al Khobar.

“With Millennials making up 75 per cent of the global workforce by 2020, and with youth more than two-thirds of the Kingdom’s population, we’re helping organizations unleash Millennials’ potential for a brighter future and boost the Kingdom’s sustainable, and innovation-based economy,” said Al Faifi. - TradeArabia News Service