63,400 new jobs to come up in Saudi Arabia!

• According to a recent study.

Microsoft's technology ecosystem and cloud services will create over 63,400 jobs in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia by the end of 2022, a study by International Data Corporation (IDC) found.

The research also covers findings from other Middle Eastern markets such as UAE, Bahrain and Turkey and analyses the impact of ICT, cloud services, and Microsoft's ecosystem on Saudi Arabia economy between 2017 and 2022. The Microsoft ecosystem - the companies that sell, service, deploy, or otherwise work with Microsoft products - supported over 71,250 workers in 2017.The research shows that initiatives such as Saudi Vision 2030 as well as other initiatives focused on banking, healthcare, transportation and education has led to a rise in IT spending and employment. Also, Saudi Communications and Information Technology Commission's efforts to organize the cloud services have contributed largely.

IDC predicts spending on public cloud services in Saudi Arabia will almost quadruple over the next five years, from 427.68 million Saudi riyals in 2017 to 1.57 billion riyals in 2022. Between the end of 2017 and the end of 2022, adoption of cloud services will create nearly 55,000 new jobs (net) and the Microsoft technology ecosystem will add 8,400 jobs (net) for a total of 63,400 in net job creation. The ecosystem itself is a prolific generator of downstream revenues, accounting for 11.20 riyals for every 1 riyal that Microsoft produces, according to IDC estimates.

IDC analysts stated use of public cloud adoption services, combined with investments in private and hybrid cloud solutions, will "enable organizations in Saudi Arabia to innovate and achieve their [digital] transformation goals". The benefits emanating from this digital transformation trend are set to generate around SAR 26.04 billion in net new revenues over the next five years, reported Saudi Gazette.

"Digital transformation has the power to engage customers and citizens, empower employees, optimize operations and reinvent products and services," said Dr. Mamdouh Najjar, national technology officer at Microsoft Arabia. He added, "IDC's report clearly shows that private and public organizations have realized these benefits, and are directly or indirectly creating jobs as they invest in their futures."

While, Megha Kumar, research director - software & cloud, IDC Middle East, Turkey and Africa, said, "As cloud continues to gain momentum in the region, countries will be able to accelerate their digital transformation and economic diversification agendas."