RIYADH: The Saudi Human Resources Development Fund (Hadaf) deposited more than SAR493 million ($131 million) in people’s bank accounts for December. The beneficiaries, numbering more than 323,000, are registered with the Hafiz unemployment and difficulty schemes. Hadaf said that the number of people registered with the Hafiz unemployment program had reached 168,062, while the figure for the difficulty scheme stood at 155,912. A total of 7,098 job seekers — 3,928 women and 3,170 men - were offered job opportunities in the private sector in December through the two Hafiz initiatives. The Kingdom wants to reduce unemployment figures, and to find suitable jobs for Saudis. Hadaf offers qualification and training support programs for people to help provide them with the skills and capacities needed to join the labor market and contribute to the Kingdom’s national development.  To support the training of the local labor force, Hadaf has launched programs and held job interviews in cooperation with the private sector throughout Saudi Arabia to back the employment of the national workforce.