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Solution
Public Policy Development and its Impact on Work and Employment
According to Cashore et al. (2021), public policy is the set of principles and measures that governments use to address the needs of society and achieve specific objectives. Digital transformation is one of the most significant modern public policy priorities in Saudi Arabia that is being implemented within the framework of Vision 2030. This policy aims at promoting the economic development agenda, enhance delivery of service in the public sector and foster innovation through the use of digital technologies. The policy includes job generation in new sectors, encouraging business development, and enhancing workforce through digital literacy (Alhubaishy & Aljuhani, 2021). This analysis seeks to evaluate the future implications of the digital transformation policy in Saudi Arabia on work and employment and how it applies to people practice and other sectors.
Impact on Employment
Job Creation and Sectoral Transformation
The first direct implication of the digital transformation policy is job creation in the technological industries (Sarabdeen & Alofaysan, 2023). For instance, sectors like artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, data analytics and e- commerce have been growing due to support from the government. Globaledge (2024) explains that in the year 2022, the ICT sector contributed to the GDP by 7.1% as stated in the report by the Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC), showing the significance of digital transformation. This growth is coupled with increasing talent needs in the tech industry, which means that there is a need to focus on the right education and training for Digital Transformation.
Moreover, the policy also encourages change across various industries through the adoption of digital technologies into sectors that have not embraced it. For example, precision farming has been adopted in the farming industry while automation and smart technologies is used in the manufacturing industry. These advancements are not only valuable in enhancing efficiency but also in employment where new jobs are being created that require high level of digital literacy (Al-Hajri et al., 2024).
Skill Development
As the economy shifts towards a digital future, it has become crucial to address the increasing demand for a digitally skilled workforce. In response to this, the government has put its resources into education and training with the view of empowering citizens with the necessary digital skills. For instance, the “Digital Skills for All” program has provided training to more than 180 young people in digital competencies including coding, cybersecurity, and cloud computing among others (Dobranja, 2023). This program is relevant with Vision 2030 of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to enhance employment rates of its citizens by closing the existing gap in skills. Focusing on skills is also useful for people practices within organisations. This means that HR professionals need to learn new ways of recruiting and training as the skills needed have transformed (Alangari et al., 2022). This entails creating environments that support learning and applying technological innovations in employee training and development.
Remote Work and Flexibility
A new form of work culture has emerged due to the advancements in digital transformation, particularly in remote working and flexibility. The COVID-19 pandemic sped up the shift towards digital tools and showed that these tools could be used to sustain productivity during disruptions (Ambrogio et al., 2022). This has not been overlooked by Saudi Arabia and many organisations have embraced the new work model. This change also enhances the work-life balance as well as boosts the labour force especially women and the people with disabilities. The flexibility of the digital tools also improves the employees’ participation and thus increases the overall employee engagement and retention. For example, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development reported that women’s participation in remote work had increased by 33% in 2023, indicating that the policy has had a positive impact on gender balance in the workplace (HRSD, 2023).
Fostering Entrepreneurship and Innovation
The digital economy encourages entrepreneurship by offering people the necessary tools and technologies to start businesses. For example, the “Monsha’at” program that provides the service of issuing an Enterprise Size Certificate electronically, provides funding, advisory, and online tools to the startups and small firms (Maspul, 2023). This led to the boost in the number of tech startups in Saudi Arabia by 50% between the years 2019-2022, which shows that the policy was successful in its aim of boosting innovation (Arab News, 2022). Entrepreneurship also contributes to employment because start-ups are a source of new jobs. This highlights how digital transformation has a positive impact on employment opportunities.
Implications for People Practice
The digital transformation policy has significant impact on people practice work. The HR professionals need to address the dynamics of the modern digital workplace and develop new approaches to talent management, engagement, and inclusion. This entails the use of Human Resources analytics to support HR decision making, the adoption of e-learning for employees’ training, as well as support for remote working as a way of enhancing inclusion (Trenerry et al., 2021). Furthermore, the skill development aspect of the policy is consistent with the goals of strategic workforce planning. Thus, by identifying the future skills and matching them with training programs, companies can improve their performance and competitiveness.
Challenges and Considerations
Although the digital transformation policy offers numerous opportunities, ….
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