KPMG’s operation in Saudi Arabia is planning to hire around 700 new employees over the next five years, as it ramps up its presence in the kingdom, it was announced on Wednesday.

At the end of the first quarter of this year, KPMG Al Fozan & Partners had 1,200 employees Saudi Arabia, of which around 500 were Saudi nationals, the company said.

Abdullah Al-Fozan, the company's chairman in Saudi Arabia, said in a press release that the tax and advisory firm "is witnessing record growth in the kingdom due to the increasing demand for its services by both the private and public sector, with a particular focus on Advisory.”

Saudi Arabia, along with the United Arab Emirates, introduced a 5 percent value-added tax (VAT) on January 1, in a bid to generate alternative sources of income and reduce the government dependence on revenue from hydrocarbons.

“We are confident that VAT will benefit everyone and create huge employment opportunities for Saudis, both in public and private sectors. The employment opportunities will be in the areas of accounting, IT design & implementation, tax advice and to work as Tax Inspectors in GAZT [General Authority of Zakat and Tax],” Al-Fozan added. (Read the full report here).

Last year, Trefor Murphy, CEO of Dubai-based recruitment firm Cooper Fitch, predicted that the introduction of VAT would create thousands of new jobs across the Gulf.

“We talked about 5,000 jobs being created. I would now suggest that is a significant understatement,” Murphy told Zawya in April 2017.

The news from KPMG comes as recruitment firm Hays said on Wednesday it had “noticed an increase in activity within the local hiring market” in Saudi Arabia. (Read the full report here).

The company said the most noticeable area of growth was in demand for Saudi nationals, across all major industry sectors.

However, it highlighted three sectors where there is demand for new candidates. The first is the fast growing e-commerce sector, in areas such as retail and operations.

Regional e-commerce platform Noon launched in Saudi Arabia in December. The site is backed by Dubai billionaire Mohamed Alabbar and the kingdom’s sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund.

Large construction projects, such as Jabail II and NEOM, are also expected to generate jobs in the construction and property sectors.

Finally, the emerging entertainments industry will generate jobs for young unemployed Saudis. Earlier this month it was announced that Saudi Arabia plans to open hundreds of new cinemas, aswell as theme parks and entertainment venues.

Michael Reininger, chief executive of Qiddiya, the country’s first entertainment, sports and cultural destination, told Reuters earlier this month: “With nearly two thirds of the Saudi population under the age of 35, there is a huge appetite in the kingdom for theme parks such as this one, as well as the other sporting and cultural facilities that Qiddiya will offer.” (Read the full report here).

Further reading:
VAT to create 5,000 new tax jobs? "That's an understatement," say recruitment experts
E-commerce site Noon to go live in Saudi Arabia tomorrow - CEO
In with the new: Can NEOM be a testing ground for a new Saudi Arabia
That's showbiz: Saudi's new theme park cinema and entertainment deals

(Writing by Shane McGinley; Edited by Michael Fahy)
(shane.mcginley@thomsonreuters.com)

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