JEDDAH, 17 March 2004 — Some 24 days after the Feb. 21 deadline for their partial Saudization, toyshops in Jeddah show no signs of change. The business was one of 25 economic activities to start Saudization last month.
A visit last week to the big toyshops in the city showed that most of the floor employees were expatriates, mostly from Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, and the Philippines.
There were two new members of staff in the big toy stores, both appointed about four months ago and both expatriates from the Subcontinent. The smaller shops, mainly in the Mahmoud Saeed Market on Sitteen Street, were completely manned by expatriates, mostly Bangladeshis. No one wants to say how many of them in effect own the shops and how many are employees.
One reason why there were no Saudis, according to staff, was that Saudis were reluctant to work in the business as working hours are long and pay is performance-related. Toy stores remain open on weekends and late into the evenings to allow families to shop.
When asked why there were no Saudi employees around, an expatriate floor salesman in a toy store said: “There are, but they do not work sufficiently hard and are always eager to go home.”
Saudis are also more expensive than expatriates, some sales staff said, expecting better payment than expatriates for the same kind of job.
One businessman said he did not mind employing Saudis just to maintain the quota.
This happened in the vegetable market, where Saudis were hired as a front, sometimes by several shops at once, while expatriates continued to do the work.
