There are about 10 million expatriates in Saudi Arabia with 7 million working in the service and industrial sectors.
Many expatriates have been working in the Kingdom for several years despite new local measures to curb reliance on foreign workers. Up to 3 million expat workers have been reported to leave Saudi Arabia over the next few years under a new plan to cap their number.
“If you have good work and receiving enough, if not more, the tendency is to stay and continue working here. Life is convenient here,” Nidab Salamah, a Jordanian working as head of the Riyadh Chamber of Commerce ‘s translation section, told Arab News.
He had been working in the Kingdom for 30 years and his six children studied here, although they went to Jordan for their university degrees.
“I couldn’t ask for more. I and my wife have had a good time here with our children, specially when they were still very young. We had family bonding by going out to visit the malls at night,” he said.
Salamah’s view is shared by Eric Pesig-Asi who who works as a senior electrical engineer in a local firm. “If you draw a relatively good monthly salary, you and your family could live comfortably and have much time being together,” he told Arab News.
He also said that being with his wife and kids in the Kingdom strengthens family relationship, adding that during Ramadan and Haj holidays he and friends go for a pleasure ride to the Eastern Province with their respective families.
“We rent a villa and stay there for three or four days. After visiting the parks and tourist attractions like the Half Moon Bay Beach, we take the kids to the seashore and dig for shells at the water’s edge,” he said. Moments like these, he added, are precious. Asi and his family have been living in the Kingdom for the last 13 years.
The Kingdom has a standard salary rate for Filipino
expat engineers, which is between SR 3,300 to SR 5,866, according to workabroad.ph. “If you are a project manager, you receive not less than SR10,000,” Asi said.
For 45-year-old Syrian Samer Al-Ajjan, who has been living in Riyadh for 17 years, the Kingdom is his second home and has no plans of leaving for another country. Arataco Company is the distributor of the Malaysian cars Proton.
“Life here is leisurely. The Saudi economy is stable. It’s also peaceful here, unlike in other countries in the region. I and my family are enjoying a good life and my three kids aged 13, 7 and 3, are having a good education,” he said.
He added that aside from a good salary, he also has a one-month vacation with pay from his company. In other companies, he noted, expat employers receive three-month housing allowances and three-month bonuses. In one company, the employees’ children also have educational benefits.
“These are reasons why expatriates continue to work here despite what they perceive as restrictions,” he said.
Shariff Omar, an Egyptian working as accountant in a Riyadh-based publishing company, said that the Kingdom is much better place to work compared to other countries.
“My family is having a good time here. I get quite a good package from my company that enables us to visit the malls after coming home at night. It’s one way of bonding with my better half and kids,” he said.
Quite a number of expats, however, have left the Kingdom for good — either to go back to their home countries or settle down somewhere else.
“In my case, I and my family will leave for Mississauga in Ontario, Canada, next year for a change,” said an expat who had been working in the Kingdom for more than 25 years.
But others leave because their positions, specially if these had been categorized for Saudi nationals only.
“Either they could not accept being replaced or they are demoted,” said a Westerner who requested not to be named.
Why expats prefer to work in Saudi Arabia
