RIYADH, 25 July 2004 — With the entry of a major French hypermarket in the capital and another one from the same country set to open toward the end of this year, a spin-off of the fierce competition in the supermarkets business is the Saudization of cashiers and produce (vegetables) section managers.
“We have already Saudized 30 percent of our work force in the produce section and will be increasing to 70 percent by the end of this year,” Majed Al-Shahrani, recruiting manager of Al-Azizia Panda Supermarket, told Arab News.
Supermarkets in the Kingdom have been under pressure from the Ministry of Labor to replace expatriates as cashiers and in the produce section with Saudis. The move to extend Saudization of manpower in supermarkets is part of its overall strategy to combat growing unemployment among Saudis. According to official estimates, one-third of the 15 million Saudi work force is unemployed.
Al-Shahrani said Al-Azizia has signed an agreement with the Human Resources Development Fund (HRDF) under which 1,000 Saudis have already been employed in their supermarket chain, which has 49 outlets all over the Kingdom. “Our goal is to recruit 450 more Saudis this year for our new branches planned to open later this year. Two more branches are set to open in the next 18 months or so, and each of them will have 450 Saudi employees.”
He said the decision to increase the percentage of Saudi work force was the company’s and had nothing to do with the Labor Ministry’s new regulation to supermarkets.
Asked about the performance of Saudi employees, he said there are instances when they don’t show up for work. “I warn them when they are absent from duty. It does help to instill some discipline among them. But none of our Saudi employees have left, because we pay them well and look after their food, housing, transportation and other needs.”
However, the supervisor of another major hypermarket was more frank in his assessment. He said over 50 cashiers have either resigned or been terminated during the last two years following the enforcement of the Saudization rule by the government. “Our main problem is the lack of stability in the job situation. They report sick from time to time. And if they stick around for a while to gain some experience, they leave us if some other organization offers them a bit more.”
He said already cashiers were being paid SR2,000 plus housing and transportation facilities as against SR800 for the expatriate employees. The latter maintain long-term relations with their employer and are reliable in terms of job performance, the same cannot be said of the Saudis.
Speaking on behalf of a restaurant in the Hail Wuzarat area, Saleem, its manager, said the government’s regulation banning the transfer of visas for unskilled workers had created a sense of uncertainty among expatriates from the Subcontinent, a sizable section of whom had come on a free visa. However, a Bangladeshi expatriate sounded unconcerned. “If you have the right connections or are willing to spend a little bit, you can get things done,” he said.
