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| Arabia |
| Dr. Al-Gosaibi Targets Small Businesses Again for Saudization |
| 2004-07-09 |
Friday, 9, July, 2004 (22, Jumada al-Ula, 1425) Abdul Wahab Bashir, Arab News  JEDDAH, 9 July 2004 â Saudi Arabia is planning once again to decrease its dependence on foreign workers in its effort to reduce high unemployment levels throughout the country. An earlier arrangement exempting small businesses from abiding by Saudization laws may come under review as the Ministry of Labor boosts the pace of the transition. "... decrease its dependence on foreign workers in its effort to reduce high unemployment levels ..." Donât worry. Thatâs happening right now, Saudi Arabia just hasnât prepared for it at all. Those "foreign workers" make possible a lot of other support and service industry jobs. Labor Minister Dr. Ghazi Al-Gosaibi said yesterday he was determined to end unemployment, reported Al-Watan newspaper. âI clarified after I was appointed minister that the ministry will adopt a 13-point program to combat the problem of unemployment. These points included curbing the need for foreign workers and raising the standards of Saudi labor,â Al-Gosaibi said. The minister said he does not expect the problem of unemployment among Saudis to be solved in the short-term. âIn regards to the question of when unemployment will be stamped out, I think it is not possible in three years but I hope it will not take longer than nine,â he said. The only "short-term" solution is emphasizing technical education over religious teaching. That hasnât been happening a lot and not much will change until it does. Figures by the Ministry of Financeâs department of statistics show that some 300,000 Saudis or 10 percent of the countryâs workforce are unemployed. According to official sources, Saudi Arabia is home to 24 million people, some six million of whom are foreigners. Al-Gosaibi said he was considering requiring small firms to hire more Saudis under the Saudization program, adding that it is now time to review the arrangement granting small businesses an exception from applying Saudization regulations. And out come the fangs of a parasitic regime. Itâs almost like you could exchange Saudization with Communism. Decreeing more jobs be provided for the unskilled or unmotivated will not pay their salaries. ONE QUARTER of Saudi Arabiaâs population is expatriate for a simple reason. After a decades-long running jump at how to extract and refine petroleum distillates, too few Saudis either care or are able to figure out how. This is the ultimate reward of overemphasizing religious scholarship. âSmall institutions with fewer than 20 workers have been completely exempted from Saudization, despite the fact that there is a large number of foreign workers in them. Perhaps it is the time to review that decision,â the minister said. He added that Saudization applies to all businesses, big or small, although up to now the focus has been on big companies because they are more capable of employing and training. Al-Gosaibi said he hoped the situation regarding settling labor disputes will improve with the introduction of a new labor law currently being discussed by the Shoura Council. âI hope the situation will get better with the new system which will in the long run allow for labor disputes to be settled through Shairah courts as in the case of other disputes.â Asked about businessmen who threaten to move their activities outside the Kingdom if pressed with Saudization, Al-Gosaibi said he cannot force people who do not want to invest in their own country and do not want to employ Saudi citizens from moving their investments off-shore. He, however, hoped the threat was not a serious one. âDo you think the solution to the (unemployment) problem lies in preventing investors from moving their businesses outside the country or in not taking measures to curb unemployment? âEvery country in the world is keen on attracting investments to pave the way for its citizens to find jobs. When an investor comes and says he wants to move his business abroad and does not want to employ Saudi citizens, what can I say to him other than goodbye? I hope such a threat, which I have heard only once, is just a slip of the tongue.â |
| Posted by:Zenster |
| #12 No matter what the size - that window is closed! Lol! |
| Posted by: .com 2004-07-09 1:59:07 PM |
| #11 Sirrauh! I am only here to make tiny depsoit! |
| Posted by: Shipman 2004-07-09 1:55:37 PM |
| #10 tu - Lol! If you only knew, lol, what it's like in a place like KFC or Burger King in SaoodiLand! No lines (they're for infidels, I guess), just a crush against the counter and, on the other side, a frightened-looking Filipino or Indian, not sure who to serve first! This is the norm. I almost got in trouble my first week in '92 cuz I grabbed some asshole and pushed him to the end of the "line" (actually, a mob I was blocking from getting past me) in a Wendy's in Dammam. When my friends and I got our orders and left the building, they all broke out laughing at me and explained that I had prolly deeply offended some big-wig's kid. I do recall the incredible look of shock and surprise on his face as I put him back behind me, lol! If he HAD been a Saudi somebody, no doubt I would've been tossed out of SA. I had a similar 'duh' moment in a bank with some Indian who was so close behind me in line (banks rope everything off so there are actually lines, heh) that I thought I was about to discover the joys of anal. I turned around, stiff-armed his ass 2 feet back, and told him he'd get to the front in the same length of time, so just stay off my ass. His look was one of pure mystification. All of the Saudis working in the bank snickered - and I got wonderful service when I got to the Teller, lol! After about a month I figured out how to get along there by just giving them a "look", lol! Sigh, what a fucking freak show. |
| Posted by: .com 2004-07-09 12:45:11 PM |
| #9 You want fries with that...INFIDEL! |
| Posted by: tu3031 2004-07-09 12:24:03 PM |
| #8 You might note that the only way that a programme like this could work, even or paper, would be to expel large numbers of foreigners. (Hint, hint.) |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2004-07-09 11:17:35 AM |
| #7 For one thing, you can't f*ck a monitor. |
| Posted by: BH 2004-07-09 10:37:42 AM |
| #6 Once you've herded goats it's very difficult to sit in front of a monitor or pound a nail. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2004-07-09 10:34:24 AM |
| #5 They have been trying that for years and it has never worked. Last year, they tried it with taxi drivers. The goal was to get the taxis to be driven by saudis. The results: saudis bought the taxis, registered themselves as drivers, then went ahead and hired some indian or pakistani to drive the taxis for just about nothing. Labor hand here is paid just enough to not be considered slavery. As long as they can hired nationals from other countries at slavery wages, the saudizitation will never take place. |
| Posted by: Anonymous4724 2004-07-09 10:24:38 AM |
| #4 so basically each small biz will have to hire two lazy bookend Saoodis to meet a quota. Affirmative Action window dressing |
| Posted by: Frank G 2004-07-09 10:08:20 AM |
| #3 virginian: I think they are our worst enemies. |
| Posted by: BH 2004-07-09 9:52:35 AM |
| #2 "Saudization" -- sounds like something I wouldn't wish on my worst enemies. |
| Posted by: virginian 2004-07-09 8:47:47 AM |
| #1 I've heard tell that a big problem in addition to the lack of skilled workers is the general attitude and work ethic. Saudi men are supposedly scorful of hard/menial labor and have a hard time accpeting the loss of status associated with being an employee - working for a stranger. Maybe businesses will pick up and move to Iraq. |
| Posted by: John in Tokyo 2004-07-09 4:38:15 AM |