Because they lack a legacy system for electronic health records , GCC countries can design a state-of-the-art system from scratch
EXPERT OPINION
Because they lack a legacy system for electronic health records , GCC countries can design a state-of-the-art system from scratch
At present , too many people do not participate in the economy . Their “ idle ” status means they are not active in employment , education , or training . Women and young people , totaling 60 percent of the eligible population , have the lowest participation rates . In Saudi Arabia , a quarter of the youth population is idle . GCC governments can help by encouraging digital entrepreneurship , particularly through social media . Already there is a rising tide of startups from the region , such as women ’ s businesses in Saudi Arabia that use social networks like Instagram . Governments can also help women by discouraging attitudes that make it difficult for them to work and promoting flexible employment models .
Governments also need to encourage nationals to make up a larger propor- tion of the private-sector workforce , which is dominated by expatriates . New policies should make working for private companies more attractive to nationals by , for example , closing the gap between public and private-sector wages .
Another gap exists between the technological and managerial skills of many GCC nationals and the skills increasingly needed in business today . According to a recent World Economic Forum report , the GCC employment outlook in professional services and public administration — currently the largest pool of jobs for nationals in the region — is negative , whereas fast-growing areas such as digitization face a shortage of skilled labor . Companies in the GCC already seek employees skilled in information security , programming , and interface de- sign . Job postings for these digital skills on LinkedIn represent 10 percent of overall job postings in the GCC , which is higher than their 7 percent share in the U . S . market .
If ignored , this skill gap will widen , and the best way to address it is through short and medium-term training initiatives . Existing GCC educational reforms are still important , but they can take decades to have an impact . New , urgent initiatives should focus on targeted vocational education and training , ideally in collaboration with companies and academic institutions .
All three of the principles discussed above have one premise in common : The present fiscal crunch is an opportunity for GCC governments to transform their economies . With a shift in attitude they can lower their dependence on commodities . They can instead move into the future as balanced , stable economies enjoying sustainable growth .
By Samer Bohsali , Per-Ola Karlsson , and Rawia Abdel Samad . based on Strategy & Reference : www . strategyand . pwc . com
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