If expats leave, will Saudis do the work?

If expats leave, will Saudis do the work?

January 27, 2017
Abdul Aziz Al-Suwaiegh
Abdul Aziz Al-Suwaiegh

Abdul Aziz Al-Suwaiegh

By Abdul Aziz Al-Suwaiegh


A FRIEND recently asked a very pertinent and pressing question on his Facebook page: “If three million expat workers decide to leave the country because they cannot pay the new fees imposed by the government, do we have three million Saudis ready to fill their places?”

This is a very important question and he received many replies from his friends and followers and the common answer was that Saudis have the priority in work and jobs.

But what jobs exactly? There is reasonable doubt about the willingness of Saudis to fill labor-intensive jobs such as cleaning, construction, cooking and assembly line factory jobs. And if we manage to find a million Saudis to fill these jobs, what about the remaining two million?

Some people say that there are high-paying jobs with great benefits that are almost exclusively filled by expat workers. When unemployed Saudis ask why such jobs are filled only by expats, they are often told to go work as mechanics or as cleaners sweeping floors.

The problem with this reply is that our youth did not study and work hard to be given such low-paying jobs. They specialized, in college and university, in subjects that mean that they possess qualifications that make them eligible for jobs that are well beyond being a car mechanic or a cleaner. Our youths do not look down on these jobs because there is no shame in work, but their problem with such jobs is that they are over qualified for them.


January 27, 2017
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