RIYADH: The Saudi Human Resources Development Fund (Hadaf) deposited on Tuesday more than SR436 million ($116 million) in the accounts of beneficiaries of the Hafiz unemployment and difficulty schemes. According to Hadaf, the number of people benefiting from the Hafiz unemployment program has reached 146,215, while the figure for the difficulty scheme stood at 128,642. The Kingdom wants to reduce unemployment figures and to find suitable jobs for Saudis. Hadaf offers qualifications 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. 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.