JEDDAH, 28 December 2005 — A group of young Saudis working in a big car rental company in Jeddah complained that they have not received the 15 percent salary increase they were promised by the company’s administration, Al-Riyadh newspaper reported.
The group of Saudis said that the manager of the car rental company promised to increase the salary of employees after Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah earlier this year ordered a 15 percent increase for government workers and urged the private sector to do the same.
The president of the company announced in advertisements in the local press his intention to support Saudization by following the king’s recommendation. He also urged other companies to do the same.
Employees were surprised that they still had not received the raises. They approached their manager over the problem, but he refused to give them any answers. An employee told the newspaper that the decision to give them their raises is only statements on paper rather than actions fulfilled.
“We tried contacting the labor office, but no one was answering,” said the employee, who preferred to remain anonymous.
Many employees now believe that the manager wanted to show his support of Saudization and higher salaries publicly by taking out the advertisements, but privately he had no intention of following through with his pronouncements.
After 20 years of growing living costs with no rise in salaries of public sector employees, the royal decision by was widely welcomed. Labor Minister Ghazi Al-Gosaibi urged private firms, in response to the royal gesture, to raise the salaries of their employees as well.
