Dr. Ali Al-Ghamdi

 

In an article published by the online newspaper Arjaa, eminent Saudi writer Abdul Fatah Abu Madyan recalled an experience that he had while he was the owner and editor-in-chief of Al-Raed magazine 50 years ago. During those days, newspapers and magazines were owned and published by individuals and later on individuals were replaced by organizations.



Abu Madyan was one of the editors-in-chief who met with King Faisal Bin Abdul Aziz (who was then a prince). Those who were present at the meeting included Ahmed Shabbat, editor-in-chief of Sout Al-Khaleej newspaper, which was published from Al-Khobar in the Eastern Province. Addressing Prince Faisal, Shabbat said: “You have opened doors for foreigners and that will restrict the scope for citizens to earn their livelihood.”  To this the Prince replied: “Bring me a Saudi plumber and I will give him the salary that he demands.”



He also cited the example of barbers in the city of Riyadh. Then Prince Faisal turned toward the gathering and said: “A Saudi wants a Parker pen, an air-conditioned office and a nice mattress, and then he will say: 'Bring me a cup of coffee or a cup of tea'".



Abu Madyan said that among those who attended that meeting, only three persons are still alive. They are Shabbat, Hassan Ashary, the then director general of publications, and himself.  



I draw attention to this story of what happened more than 50 years ago to prove that the problem of unemployment is not a byproduct of our world today. Rather it is a chronic problem that has existed for many years. When some companies have made announcements that they have job vacancies for trailer drivers with a monthly salary of SR8,000, no Saudis have turned up to take this job, according to an article by Abu Madyan.



In a column in Okaz daily last Saturday, Dr. Waleed Arab Hashim also dealt with the same topic. He expressed surprise in seeing the phone number of a Saudi man written on a street wall along with his request for a driver’s job. The columnist asked whether or not this notice was real.  I think that it is possible that this advertisement could be from a Saudi who is either employed or unemployed and who owns a car and wants to make trips to earn additional income. Perhaps he wants to transport some girl students to universities or women teachers to schools in return for cash on a daily or monthly basis.



Some expatriates are also engaged in such activity, and I can say definitely that they are more prompt, punctual and dedicated in their work than the Saudis providing transportation services.



Those Saudi women and families who are in need of such service usually prefer expatriates to Saudis due to the former’s punctuality and noninterference in their personal matters. This is also true in the case of limousine drivers. Most Saudi women avoid traveling in taxis driven by Saudis because of some bitter experiences, such as indecent behavior and even attempts of sexual assault.



Unfortunately, we do not have any detailed statistics about the exact number of jobless Saudis. The Ministry of Labor has announced that there are about one million unemployed Saudis and that it is striving to replace a portion of the seven to eight million expatriates in the Kingdom with these jobless Saudis. The ministry has worked out several plans and programs to realize this goal, including the Nitaqat program with its three color categories.



However, the implementation of the Nitaqat program by the ministry seems arbitrary in certain situations, especially in the case of small- and medium-sized enterprises which find it difficult to remain in the green category by employing the required number of Saudis.



This forces some of these firms to halt their operations or to resort to fraudulent means with regard to employing Saudis, such as by incorporating the names of  non-working wives and children of Saudis in the register of employees or including the names of Saudis on their payroll without insisting that they do any work. All of this is being done in order to avoid being placed in the undesirable color categories of Nitaqat.



I also believe that the figures released by the ministry about the number of unemployed Saudis are inaccurate as I think that these figures are based on the number of beneficiaries of the Hafiz unemployment program, which was introduced to support jobless Saudis.



According to reports published in local newspapers, more than 85 percent of those who have registered in this program are housewives who have not sought a job due to religious and social reasons but who have now come forward to take advantage of the Hafiz unemployment allowance. Perhaps they are in dire need of such an allowance.



In the next article, I will shed light, God willing, on the practical difficulties in implementing Saudization and the impossibility of dispensing with expatriates as they have contributed and are still contributing and will continue to contribute to the growth and development of our great nation.

 

— Dr. Ali Al-Ghamdi is a former Saudi diplomat who specializes in Southeast Asian affairs. He can be reached at algham@hotmail.com