Recent off the again of Saudi Aramco’s just lately launched third quarter 2025 outcomes, Rigzone linked with Faisal A. Al-Hajji, Aramco Senior Vice President (SVP) of Human Assets, for a deep dive into a variety of employment associated subjects.
On this unique Q&A session, Al-Hajji talks about profession development at Aramco, which expertise he thinks will probably be most in demand over the subsequent 5-10 years, and the impact of automation and synthetic intelligence on jobs on the firm, amongst a bunch of different topics.
Rigzone: What does Aramco search for in an worker? How many individuals does Aramco make use of for the time being?
- Advertisement -
Al-Hajji: At Aramco, we’re lucky to have a wealth of outstanding expertise, each domestically and internationally. Our sturdy expertise pipeline is especially sturdy inside Saudi Arabia, the place we constantly entice excellent people from top-tier universities. These candidates sometimes boast excessive evaluation scores, sturdy GPAs, and accredited certifications, making certain a extremely certified and enticing expertise pool, reaching a mean 200+ of Saudi candidates day by day.
This nice pool is totally reviewed via rigorous evaluation processes and standardized interviews. At Aramco, we’re in search of proficient people who can thrive in a dynamic and numerous vitality firm. Whereas particular expertise and {qualifications} fluctuate by place, we prioritize candidates who’re well-rounded, academically sturdy, and possess a optimistic and adaptable mindset. We search professionals who’re wanting to be taught, embrace new applied sciences, and contribute to a collaborative and modern work atmosphere.
We at present make use of over 75,000 staff with numerous backgrounds, experiences, ages, and nationalities. Over 90 % of our workforce is Saudi, whereas staff from greater than 90 different nationalities make up the rest, underscoring the exceptional range inside our firm. And that’s why we at all times search for candidates who’re in a position to work seamlessly as a part of a various, international group.
Rigzone: What does profession development, coaching, and improvement seem like at Aramco?
Al-Hajji: Aramco has a proud historical past of offering alternatives for coaching and training over many a long time, and I’m a testomony to that, having benefited from the corporate’s scholarship program myself. For practically three a long time, our flagship initiative has enabled greater than 8,000 college students to attend high universities after which construct their careers at Aramco.
We provide a variety of applications to assist the event of non-employees, equivalent to sponsored college students, together with scholarship applications, internships, mentorship, and profession improvement workshops. For our industrial {and professional} workforce, we now have full-career path improvement applications that nurture each specialists and leaders, with hundreds of customizable coaching and improvement choices.
Our improvement Journey focuses on creating newcomers from day one, with foundational coaching and tailor-made applications that turn into extra intense and centered as careers progress. We even have management improvement applications that improve strategic pondering, innovation, and international management expertise, together with government improvement applications, management competency improvement, and mentorship.
What’s distinctive about our strategy is that we don’t do it alone. We associate with world-class instructional and improvement establishments from around the globe to deliver the perfect practices, newest applied sciences, and cutting-edge analysis to our coaching applications. This collaboration allows us to supply our staff with world-class improvement alternatives, keep forward of the curve, and drive innovation within the vitality trade.
General, our coaching and improvement applications are designed to draw, retain, and develop a proficient and numerous workforce, offering staff with the talents, information, and alternatives they want to reach their careers and contribute to the corporate’s success.
Rigzone: How does Aramco deal with cultural integration and office range?
Al-Hajji: Aramco has been a multicultural workforce for over 90 years, so inclusivity is a part of our DNA. This long-standing dedication was mirrored within the latest Excessive Performing Worker Expertise Award and designation Aramco obtained by Willis Towers Watson, which places Aramco as the primary main oil and fuel firm, and the primary firm headquartered within the Center East, to realize this distinction.
Constructing on this, our fairness and inclusion applications cowl a variety of specifically developed and usually up to date on-line programs and in-person workshops designed to supply a cross-company introduction to, and reinforcement of, key fairness and inclusion ideas. Actually, over the previous 5 years we have been in a position to virtually double the variety of females within the workforce, and we tripled the variety of females in management positions.
Rigzone: Which expertise will probably be most in demand over the subsequent 5–10 years? How can candidates put together?
Al-Hajji: The talents in highest demand over the subsequent 5 to 10 years will probably be a mix of foundational and rising capabilities. We’ll proceed to wish our conventional choices, as they continue to be foundational to many industries and supply important information and expertise that underpin our operations. Nevertheless, because the world evolves, there can even be rising demand for rising majors, significantly in areas like information analytics, synthetic intelligence, machine studying, cybersecurity, and sustainability-related disciplines.
Candidates can greatest put together by constructing a robust base via conventional fields of examine, whereas additionally exploring interdisciplinary pathways and rising areas that align with future traits. Emphasizing STEM training, digital literacy, and acquiring related skilled certifications will additional equip them to thrive in a quickly altering job market.
On the similar time, Aramco is investing closely in constructing Saudi Arabia’s future expertise pipeline. Our Nationwide Coaching Facilities throughout the Kingdom educate and empower a extremely skilled, aggressive workforce. These applications are collectively funded by authorities and trade, making certain Saudi residents are outfitted for high-skilled jobs that may assist future-proof the financial system. For practically a decade, we now have collaborated with strategic companions to ascertain 16 Nationwide Coaching Facilities in 10 cities throughout the Kingdom, overlaying 80 disciplines. Thus far, these facilities have benefited over 60,000 people, and we aspire to succeed in 100,000 beneficiaries by 2030, aligning completely with the Kingdom’s purpose to extend employment. We additionally sponsor hundreds of Saudi college students at top-tier universities worldwide, making certain they return with the superior STEM expertise wanted to contribute to a globally aggressive workforce.
Rigzone: How is Aramco HR balancing conventional oil and fuel roles with newer alternatives (renewables, hydrogen, AI)?
Al-Hajji: To steadiness conventional oil and fuel roles with newer alternatives in renewables, hydrogen, and AI, Aramco HR is specializing in a number of key methods. We’re upskilling and reskilling our current workforce, recruiting new expertise with experience in rising applied sciences, and redesigning conventional job roles to include new expertise and obligations.
We’re additionally dedicated to range and inclusion, recognizing {that a} numerous workforce is crucial for driving innovation and success. By strategic partnerships with exterior organizations, startups, and academia, we’re staying on the forefront of rising applied sciences and figuring out new alternatives for collaboration and innovation.
As a part of my position, I lead and assist these efforts, by working carefully with the enterprise to determine expertise gaps, develop strategic workforce plans, and implement initiatives that drive enterprise outcomes and assist the corporate’s general technique. By taking a proactive and strategic strategy to workforce improvement, we’re positioning Aramco for long-term success in a quickly altering vitality panorama.
Rigzone: How will automation and AI change jobs at Aramco?
Al-Hajji: Expertise is deeply embedded in every little thing we do at Aramco. We now have deployed superior applied sciences supported by world-class computing energy, demonstrating our dedication to pushing boundaries. Our modern tradition is mirrored in practically 1,000 patents granted, standing tall amongst our friends. AI is an enabler, not a substitute. It permits folks to work smarter and make higher choices. Count on to see extra data-driven roles – in predictive upkeep, analytics, and digital twins – and extra coaching for engineers and operators to make use of superior instruments successfully. The outcome just isn’t fewer alternatives, however new varieties of alternatives that mix human experience with digital functionality.
Whether or not it’s for preventative upkeep, enhancing security, optimizing our operations, or extra, there’s a enormous future for digitalization and AI at Aramco. Whereas we’re already an trade chief in digital maturity, we now have taken daring strikes to speed up and intensify our work to maneuver to the subsequent stage, significantly with generative AI.
Al-Hajji was appointed Aramco Senior Vice President of Human Assets in 2023. Previous to this, he served as Vice President of Human Assets, from April 2022 to November 2023, and Govt Head of Human Assets from Aug 2021 to March 2022. Al-Hajji’s Aramco profession started in 1998 as an engineer within the Ghawar area.
In his position as SVP of HR, Al-Hajji is answerable for offering strategic management and operational administration of all HR capabilities at Saudi Aramco. Along with overseeing the everyday HR operations for over 75,000 staff from over 90 nationalities, he’s answerable for applications that serve greater than 410,000 dependents and retirees of Saudi Aramco and supply assist and oversight to Saudi contractors and associates.
To contact the creator, e mail andreas.exarheas@rigzone.com
