Last week I talked to the supervisor of the human resources department of a major bookstore in the Kingdom, who was sitting next to me on the plane.

I asked him about the employment of Saudis in the store and how well it was going. “Tell me honestly,” I said. “I know for sure there are two sorts of Saudis when it comes to attitude toward work.

“There are Saudis who are responsible, ambitious, respectful of time, easy to deal with, and are proud to do what they do, setting examples for others. And then there are other Saudis who are irresponsible, lazy, lack character and decision-making skills, and are a burden rather than a blessing. If both groups of Saudis were put on a scale, which way would it tilt, judging by the Saudis you’ve employed so far?”

“Unfortunately, it would tilt toward the latter,” he replied.

Later I heard from the man that the administration mandated a unified uniform for all staff because newly employed Saudis were seen fixing their shummagh (red head gear) too often to look as trendy as possible in front of the customers, especially women.

The manager went on telling me how hard it was to employ worthy Saudis nowadays. He said many Saudis who had been employed by his company recently told the administration they no longer wanted to work. “When I asked them why, most of them said the salary was not enough or that their relatives and acquaintances asked them to leave because working as a cashier or seller was not prestigious.”

Arab News reported last month a story of a Saudi cashier in a giant supermarket who caused a commotion because he refused to place the groceries of a foreign customer on the conveyor belt. The manager there was also facing difficulty employing competent, down-to-earth and hardworking Saudis who show up on time and mingle smoothly in the workplace. Having said all that, will Saudization work? Not if that is the work attitude of many Saudis.

I am not against Saudization. I am a Saudi myself. But I am sickened by the attitude of many of my fellow Saudis in the workplace. Not taking this job because it is not “prestigious”. Not taking up that job because it pays little.

As long as the majority of Saudis still think that they will find an office job ready for them upon graduation, are unwilling to break a sweat doing anything too strenuous, and will not take up blue-collar jobs, the status quo will remain as is for a long time to come.

Why do we have seven million foreigners working in our country when our unemployment rate is soaring every year? Simple. Because the majority of those jobs will not be taken by Saudis.

It is unfortunate that despite our high jobless rate, many of us Saudis still have that mentality when taking up jobs. I wonder where this sort of ideology came from, every time I think of how our fathers and ancestors were already married, taking up jobs as laborers and supporting their families by the age of eighteen or twenty.

If that is the case, where did all this pride come from? The only explanation I can think of is the oil boom. It’s amazing how in the space of 10 years and because of our sudden enormous wealth, we Saudis have become too proud to take up certain jobs and deem them only suitable for foreigners. Unfortunately, though weakened, that ideology still exists.

What is really unfortunate is that our media is a bystander to all this.

The only program I could think of that brought this subject up — though in a humorous way — was the famous comedy show “Tash-ma-Tash” that is broadcast on Saudi TV Channel 1 every Ramadan. There are two Saudi graduates, both of them looking for jobs. One of them takes up a job in a wood factory with a low salary. The other refuses to take the job claiming that it is beneath him. Several years later, the first Saudi has worked his way up the ladder and become assistant manager of the factory through ambition and hard work. One day, his fellow graduate, who is still jobless, passes by the factory to apply for a job.

He is struck dumb when he discovers that his friend has become assistant manager and he is still searching for a suitable job.