Subject: Big Problem in the "Big Sandbox"
Ever since oil was "discovered" in Saudi Arabia, the Kingdom has prospered. They decided to bring in expatriots from all over the world to do ALL the work and have given their Saudi citizens whatever they needed/asked for. A couple of years ago, the Saudi Government decided that all their woes were caused by too many foreigners in a country with only about six million of pure Saudi blood so the decision was made to give all the jobs only to Saudis and export all foreigners.
Well, this article explains some of the problems that Saudi is having with the decision to rid that country of the overload of expats and give all jobs to the Saudi's. The main problem is, the average Saudi has NEVER done a real days work, and certainly does not intend to start now. The government has given their citizens everything (a true welfare state) and they now cannot reverse that and become self sufficient.
Hospitality Found Wanting at Two Riyadh Supermarkets
Javid Hassan ? Arab News Staff
RIYADH, 27 June 2003 ? A young Saudi cashier at a
major supermarket chain on Dhabab Street created a scene on Wednesday night when he refused to move the items from an expatriate?s shopping basket onto the counter for scanning.
Instead the cashier asked the expatriate ? from the
Subcontinent ? to do the unloading himself.
The expatriate refused on the grounds that it was the duty of the cashier to place the items on the scanner.
When the cashier remained adamant, the shopping supervisor, also a non-Saudi, was called to discipline him. When his words fell on deaf ears of the Saudi cashier, a Bangladeshi employee of the supermarket came forward to do the job.
Last week, this correspondent happened to be at the Hail Al-Wizarat branch of another supermarket chain. Long queues had built up at three counters, while three others remained unmanned.
Checking out after a 45-minute wait for some minor shopping, the Arab News correspondent suggested to the shopping supervisor, an Asian expatriate, that it would make sense to open all the counters to customers during peak hours to clear the growing queues.
He replied: ?What to do? The counters have to be manned by Saudis under the new law. But they did not show up.?
These two instances provide a glimpse of Saudization at work in the supermarkets. The Saudis who have replaced the expatriates at the cash counters think it beneath their dignity to serve expatriate shoppers, especially if they happen to be from the Subcontinent.
A senior manager of one of the oldest supermarkets on Takhassusi Street said the store had to fire 20 out of 50 new Saudi recruits within a short period due to frequent absenteeism, lack of punctuality and excessive use of mobile phones at counters. He added that the decision was taken on the basis of complaints from the customers due to billing errors. Saudization of jobs in the supermarkets along with IT, health care and construction sectors are part of the comprehensive
strategy drawn up by the Human Resources Development Fund to create 20,000 jobs for Saudis this year.
To meet the target, it has compelled the private sector to fall in line.
?We are hiring Saudis, but they don?t stick around for long,? said the administration manager of a multinational construction company.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, he said that many played truant or reported sick very often.
?We have three gates to be manned by 10 Saudi guards. This is just to fulfill the requirement for Saudization, as we have been taken to court by the Labor Office for non-compliance with the five percent annual Saudization rule. But the caliber of the Saudi manpower is such that we have no alternative but to fire them and again place ads for fresh recruits,? he added.
Copyright:Arab News ? 2003 All rights reserved. Site
designed by: arabix
and powered by Eima IT
Ever since oil was "discovered" in Saudi Arabia, the Kingdom has prospered. They decided to bring in expatriots from all over the world to do ALL the work and have given their Saudi citizens whatever they needed/asked for. A couple of years ago, the Saudi Government decided that all their woes were caused by too many foreigners in a country with only about six million of pure Saudi blood so the decision was made to give all the jobs only to Saudis and export all foreigners.
Well, this article explains some of the problems that Saudi is having with the decision to rid that country of the overload of expats and give all jobs to the Saudi's. The main problem is, the average Saudi has NEVER done a real days work, and certainly does not intend to start now. The government has given their citizens everything (a true welfare state) and they now cannot reverse that and become self sufficient.
Hospitality Found Wanting at Two Riyadh Supermarkets
Javid Hassan ? Arab News Staff
RIYADH, 27 June 2003 ? A young Saudi cashier at a
major supermarket chain on Dhabab Street created a scene on Wednesday night when he refused to move the items from an expatriate?s shopping basket onto the counter for scanning.
Instead the cashier asked the expatriate ? from the
Subcontinent ? to do the unloading himself.
The expatriate refused on the grounds that it was the duty of the cashier to place the items on the scanner.
When the cashier remained adamant, the shopping supervisor, also a non-Saudi, was called to discipline him. When his words fell on deaf ears of the Saudi cashier, a Bangladeshi employee of the supermarket came forward to do the job.
Last week, this correspondent happened to be at the Hail Al-Wizarat branch of another supermarket chain. Long queues had built up at three counters, while three others remained unmanned.
Checking out after a 45-minute wait for some minor shopping, the Arab News correspondent suggested to the shopping supervisor, an Asian expatriate, that it would make sense to open all the counters to customers during peak hours to clear the growing queues.
He replied: ?What to do? The counters have to be manned by Saudis under the new law. But they did not show up.?
These two instances provide a glimpse of Saudization at work in the supermarkets. The Saudis who have replaced the expatriates at the cash counters think it beneath their dignity to serve expatriate shoppers, especially if they happen to be from the Subcontinent.
A senior manager of one of the oldest supermarkets on Takhassusi Street said the store had to fire 20 out of 50 new Saudi recruits within a short period due to frequent absenteeism, lack of punctuality and excessive use of mobile phones at counters. He added that the decision was taken on the basis of complaints from the customers due to billing errors. Saudization of jobs in the supermarkets along with IT, health care and construction sectors are part of the comprehensive
strategy drawn up by the Human Resources Development Fund to create 20,000 jobs for Saudis this year.
To meet the target, it has compelled the private sector to fall in line.
?We are hiring Saudis, but they don?t stick around for long,? said the administration manager of a multinational construction company.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, he said that many played truant or reported sick very often.
?We have three gates to be manned by 10 Saudi guards. This is just to fulfill the requirement for Saudization, as we have been taken to court by the Labor Office for non-compliance with the five percent annual Saudization rule. But the caliber of the Saudi manpower is such that we have no alternative but to fire them and again place ads for fresh recruits,? he added.
Copyright:Arab News ? 2003 All rights reserved. Site
designed by: arabix
and powered by Eima IT
