JEDDAH, 12 April 2003 — There was a Saudi working with a Bangladeshi in the Jeddah fruit market for SR60 a day. One day he had an argument with the Bangladeshi and the Bangladeshi fired him. This is the reality of Saudization in the fruit market.
Saudization, Al-Madinah newspaper wrote, is failing wherever it rears its head. It failed in the car industry and it failed in the gold shops, because many of them closed after several Saudis turned down jobs in the business.
The newspaper asked what went wrong.
Many believe that the problem is caused by the inadequate qualifications of Saudi applicants and the poor salaries offered. “When there was this announcement to train Saudis to work in gold shops, I joined the training center because I heard that salaries and benefits would be good,” Adnan Al-Nefaie, who works in a gold shop, told Al-Madinah. “I thought the salary would be SR3,400 and I would work hard to earn it. But I’ve been working for a year now and I only get SR1,700 from the store. The Human Resources Development Fund was supposed to pay the other half, but it hasn’t made good the promise.”
Tareq Al-Tammar, a gold shop owner, said: “Many gold shops are out of business and Saudis are to blame. Many of the Saudis who want to work in this business have no experience whatsoever. In order to work a person needs to be serious. I have been working in this store for years. I clean the windows every day from the outside and inside, and I am proud of it.
“I want to ask Saudis a question: What is wrong with cleaning the place where you work? Most of them like to do a comfortable desk job. They basically want to do as little work as possible.”
Obaid Kasim, a taxi driver, told the daily his experience as a taxi driver had been largely positive. “I saved all the money I earned and succeeded in buying my own car. My daily income is SR150.
“Our work is very seasonal, especially during Ramadan and Haj. I urge Saudis to enter this profession. There is no shame in it because it is honest work.”
Muhammad Musaied graduated from high school and now works in the fruit market. “I didn’t expect a better job with the kind of education I have, but I’m not going to achieve my dreams and ambitions if I continue in this kind of work. I don’t think I am going to get married because no matter how hard I work, even 24 hours a day, my salary will not exceed SR2,500 a month. There is no contract signed between my employer and me. There is no trust, because at any time we can be fired. There is no job security.”
Ahmad Sorori believes that Saudization will not work until all non-Saudis are thrown out. “Look at the way we make our living. We cannot do anything because no one wants to buy fruit from us Saudis. This is very sad because we swear by Saudization but we don’t enforce it.”
Turki Al-Harthi said he graduated three years ago and could not find a job, so he took a job in the fruit market. “People do not want to buy from Saudis; it’s as if they’re allergic to us. They trust foreigners and they do not know that most of them cheat a lot by mixing rotten fruit with good quality product. There are many reasons why Saudization failed. One of them is that nobody trusts a Saudi.
“Saudi businessmen do not trust Saudis because they claim we are not educated. If we are not educated enough, then they should point the accusing finger at the education system, not us.”
Saeed Shayie approves of Saudization. “It keeps Saudi money circulating in the Saudi economy, rather than being sent abroad. Yes, some Saudis have no patience and they change jobs quickly, but it is because of the pressure they experience from foreign workers. We have to work together to put an end to this and enforce Saudization.”
Mastour Al-Amoudy, owner of a number of telephone cabins, said: “The problem is not whether there is a contract between the storeowner and the Saudi worker. The problem is that, after we train him to work, if he can find work elsewhere he’ll leave. They look at the jobs we give them as temporary; they don’t think of it as a career.
“I used to have many Saudis working in my store. Once they hear about a vacant government job they leave without warning. This job needs honesty and commitment, which is another big problem.
“They don’t like to stay the entire eight-hour working day. They love to work in a place where there are lots of people, so it’s easy for them to bunk off. Maybe that’s acceptable in government jobs, but it won’t do in the private sector.”
