I HAVE been working in Saudi Arabia for 25 years in a managerial position and what I have noticed is that Saudis, along with others, view their work as a necessary evil. They may do their work completely, but with disdain and drudgery as if it is some kind of punishment that has been inflicted on them.
Before the discovery of oil, Saudi Arabia was a desert, save the holy cities of Makkah and Madinah and the city of Jeddah, which had developed in commerce. All other regions were sparsely developed and sparsely populated because of the lack of water. Since there was little business or trade in most of the country and little agriculture to support life, the main occupation of the people, therefore, must have become making money from the caravans that traveled to Makkah for Haj. The attitude which one has to develop for this kind of lifestyle is of taking control of your possessions and employing people from whom you have to demand work, obedience, and compliance.
After the discovery of oil, the modern life of the world came rushing into Saudi Arabia and suddenly people came in contact with luxuries unseen or unheard of before. But the lifestyle that had developed over the years was not adequate to cope with the modern style of working. This has resulted in the stagnation of development, and the lack of a work ethic that demands high-quality work from its employees.
If in the distant past employees only had to do menial jobs of filling water, tending to animals, building houses for their masters, then it was all right to treat them as unskilled workers because skilled work was not required, but in modern life where a person’s technical competence along with his dedication is required, he has to be treated well otherwise he will not be able to give his best.
I feel that employers and employees have to come out of this master - slave relationship and see work as a doorway of self-development and the development of the country. Also, a good work ethic and justice are required at the workplace and all around us because if employers or workers do not get justice and if they are exploited by each other then they will lose the motivation to work.
Work is not to be treated as a service that has to be extracted from subservient workers for the master’s benefit, probably a remnant from yesteryear’s mentality, but it rather should be something to be cherished because it not only earns money for you but also leads to self-development, self-realization and self-actualization.
Shabbir Thingna,Madinah
