Hala Al-Qahtani
Al-Sharq
I get angry when I see many companies posting important work values on their websites and boasting about them, but never putting them into practice. They never hesitate to hire a foreign expert who brings nothing new on board as far as work values are concerned. These experts just reinstate, or make slight changes to, the values that most global companies adhere to.
In my research, I have found that the two most important values common among the companies I selected for my study were justice and integrity. If labor laws are based on justice, employees will show integrity.
For example, when an employee gets a good salary that helps him cope with the cost of living, a transportation allowance, family health insurance, an extra salary for vacations, tuition fees for an international school and annual travel tickets, he will be a happy employee and will be glad to work day and night with full integrity, and he will have job security. Of course, these perks I have just mentioned are not for Saudis.
In 2013, the World Bank conducted a study with the Ministry of Economics and Planning and found that the salaries of Saudis in the private sector are lower than their counterparts in Gulf and European countries. If the same study were to be conducted on the private and public sectors this year, the results would most likely be worse.
The average monthly salary of a Saudi worker is SR6,400 compared to that of his counterpart in Gulf countries, which is SR15,200. In Europe, the average monthly salary is SR23,600. For Saudi women, the average monthly salary is SR3,500, while in Gulf countries women get SR8,700, and in Europe SR15,000.
Because Saudi women have such low salaries, it has been easy to create job opportunities for them in the market. The Ministry of Labor does not seem to care about women. Most employers apply hidden rules that discriminate against women. Women earn less than their male counterparts, although both fill the same positions.
We cannot act as if we do not know that women are paid meagre salaries. Several concerned authorities, such as the Ministry of Labor, will affirm and testify that a salary of SR3,500 for women in the private sector is not only fair, but one of the ministry’s accomplishments. They have failed to take into consideration current living expenses. I am sure the same individuals who sat at the table planning and setting the average salary realize very well that the average monthly salary of a driver is SR3,000.
When you talk with officials from both sectors and mention the values of justice and integrity, they will start talking nonstop about how international labor agreements force them to hire a certain number of European and American employees.
What is painful is that many employers are ready to pay an American or Canadian employee three times the salary of a Saudi, although it is often the case that the American or Canadian employee does not have much experience nor does he have a good idea of his role or tasks. In fact, many of them end up learning from their Saudi colleagues.
The shocking thing is that the only reason foreign employees get high salaries is because they speak English very well, which the majority of Saudi employers view as an important qualification. Why are these salaries not paid to Saudis?
As long as Saudization is not being applied fully, across the board, there will be no real Saudization and no solution to the unemployment problem. This is not because of the huge difference between the salaries in both sectors, but due to the absence of justice. The Ministry of Labor’s goals will not be achieved and the ministry will not gain the respect of citizens if it does not reprioritize and put the stability and quality of life of Saudi employees at the top of its priorities.
The ministry must oblige employers to give Saudi employees all the perks that come with the job, without humiliating them or making them beg for such perks. This is unfair to Saudi workers.
Justice and integrity are two interconnected values. If there is justice, there is integrity. If there is no justice, then humiliation, oppression, mistrust, and darkness will reign.
