Abdullah Abu Thunain has been vice minister of labor and social development since last February. He was previously deputy minister for inspection and development of work environments for around a year.
He also served as deputy minister for planning, development and information between Feb. 2016 and June 2017.
He was acting governor of the Job Creation Commission, which is a government body founded in 2015, and is a current board member of Takamol Holding and Colleges of Excellence in Riyadh.
He has also been a board member of several government institutions including the Education Evaluation Commission, Tamkin Technologies, the General Authority for Statistics, the Technical and Vocational Training Corporation, and the Public Transport Authority.
He worked at the Institute of Public Administration in Riyadh for 15 years, holding several positions.
He has a bachelor’s in finance from King Saud University in Riyadh. He has a master’s in information systems management and an MBA in finance from Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
He holds a master’s in economics and a doctorate in finance from the Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia.
He was an adjunct faculty instructor at the Old Dominion University for more than two years.
At a recent employment and labor market forum he said that recruiting young Saudi men and women was among the ministry’s main targets in the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 reform plan, in partnership with the private sector.
He stressed the importance of raising the attractiveness of the work environment in the private sector, and providing occupational health and safety requirements for attracting outstanding individuals to work in private enterprises.