JEDDAH, 2 June 2005 — A media campaign designed specifically by Saudis for Saudis is to be launched by Abdul Latif Jameel (ALJ) Community Services Programs to encourage young unemployed Saudi men and women to find a job.
The campaign seeks to go to the heart of the matter by finding reasons why people are unemployed and also convincing them to change their perceptions about certain available jobs. The media campaign was finalized by 12 young Saudis working in different advertising agencies.
The four-phased strategy developed by the Saudis will be sponsored and financed by ALJ. Mohammed Jameel, chairman of the ALJ Community Services Programs board of directors, signed an agreement and the campaign is scheduled to start in mid-July.
The campaign consists of 16 television advertisements. The advertisements target a specific audience in order to direct them to job possibilities which they may have not considered. The reasons the jobs have not been considered is that they carry a negative perception and the aim of the campaign is to change these perceptions.
“During the economic boom, jobs which were originally done by Saudis were given to expatriates. Now in these changing times with the Kingdom more developed, many Saudis refuse to take up those jobs again,” said Maher Al-Maskeri, an advertising projects director. “If Saudi youth would look at these jobs, then there are many to be filled.”
The solution hit upon by the developers of the campaign is to encourage young people to accept blue-collar jobs and encourage them to open small businesses.
Research has shown that social attitudes are a great obstacle to Saudis accepting blue-collar jobs. Parents are often an obstacle as well. Because they may be ashamed that their child is not a manager, they refuse to allow him or her to work in a blue-collar job. Others who have the means simply forbid their children and support them.
Hani Khoja, the head of the campaign work team, said that the campaign aimed to inculcate a will to work. “They have to earn their jobs,” he said. “Abroad, students work while they go to school or college, not necessarily because they need the money but because it gives them experience, confidence and independence. Here our high school and college graduates have the idea that they deserve a job just because they are Saudi. They don’t understand that they have to earn the right to the job,” he added.
The first phase of the campaign is to convince society about the importance of blue-collar jobs and the respect they deserve. The second phase will focus on young people and encourage them to take up blue-collar jobs.
The third phase builds on the second phase, emphasizing the necessity of blue-collar jobs and the need for people to take the jobs seriously and work at them. The fourth and final phase addresses the need for young people to update knowledge, improve skills and follow a lifelong learning attitude.
