Are Saudis lazy? Is the private sector dragging its heels in hiring them? And are these the reasons why Saudization, despite government efforts and warnings, is only occurring by fits and starts?
The views differ according to whether one is an employer or an employee. Those looking for work feel thwarted by the lack of opportunity and encouragement from the private sector. Many employers also seem to agree with this view though, at the same time, they keep a wary eye on costs. Thus they keep hiring expatriates even when qualified Saudis abound in the labor market.
Some employers view the Saudi work force as unwilling to work or untrained while the reality is that the employers actually find it easier to work with an easily controlled expatriate work force — whether for reasons of productivity or cost-effectiveness. Amidst all this shilly-shallying, over and over, the government has issued what is said to be a “final” warning about Saudization. The warning is that all employers must fulfill the annual Saudization requirements set by the government.
Having heard the warning many times, we wonder how final is this final warning? Before looking for an answer, let us examine the problem, which is admittedly very complex.
Before the great increase in our population in the late 1980s and 90s, the oil boom and the country’s growth obliged us to bring in hundreds of thousands of foreigners to share the burden of nation-building. After half a century, the number of expatriates is still increasing. Meanwhile, the Saudi population is one of the fastest growing in the world.
With the result that Saudi youth is facing the stark reality of being unable to get a job and of not being trained to do a job.
For Saudization to succeed the government and the private sector should educate, train and prepare people for work. The government is opening up new universities and is also setting up centers where Saudis can avail of specialized training. And the private sector too is helping. A recent case in point is the graduation of 200 skilled automobile mechanics from the Saudi-Japanese Automobile Institute (SJAHI).
But where the government and the private sector differ is on the pace of Saudization. So the government and the private sector should work together and agree to a pace of Saudization.
The government’s Saudization efforts of the private sector have repeatedly run into hurdles erected by employers. Some try to evade the implementation of Saudization by any means. They ask for time to implement the laws formulated by the labor department or use other methods, including “wasta” (influence) to either nix the move or delay it. Some even move their business abroad or to other places in the Gulf to avoid Saudization obligations.
With increasing pressure on the government to provide jobs for new graduates, the government has turned to the private sector to accommodate these job-seekers. But the private sector says that the quality of the national labor pool does not measure up to the demands of the jobs available. They are also afraid to invest in a Saudi, who after getting training, could be poached by a competitor or leave them for a better job.
But the main obstacle is the profit motive. Employers take advantage of the fact that foreign workers can be hired for low wages and can be made to work for long hours. Another ploy used by the employer is to hire a Saudi, pay him his salary and tell him not to show up except to collect his wages or when the government inspection teams come to the companies.
The lack of work ethics witnessed in government offices is not helping matters. The procrastination, absenteeism and the bureaucratic pace have seemingly given the employers the idea that Saudis are lazy. But Saudi Aramco and Saudi Arabian Airlines disprove this.
The government cannot hope to succeed in its Saudization drive if it enforces a plan in which Saudis would be employed in place of an expatriate for the same wages. And businessmen cannot be expected to increase the salaries unless the government does something about it.
This means both the employers and the government have to shift their positions to achieve Saudization. The employers should have more trust in the national work force while providing them training and opportunities. The government should enact laws that would be beneficial to both the employers and the employees, while giving incentives to those companies who are willing to offer solutions to this knotty problem.
The government has already taken the initiative by taking businessmen on board in the newly formed consultative council that will advise Labor Minister Dr. Ghazi Al-Gosaibi on labor issues, employment and recruitment in private sector.
The ministry is adopting a three-pronged strategy to solve the growing unemployment problem — by rationalizing recruitment, training Saudis and increasing the cost of foreign manpower.
Now with both working together, the aims of reducing unemployment is firmly on track. There should be no more need of resorting to “final” warnings to Saudize.
That is if both mean business.
