Strategy Introduction
Saudization is a new Saudi Arabian strategy by means of which the replacement of all expatriate workers takes place and a chance for local citizens to get certain jobs turns out to be possible (Sadi, 2009). Because of the gained reputation, the company has hired as number of foreign workers, who failed to transfer their sponsorship as well as who did not.
Now, because of the conditions mentioned in the article 39 of the existing labor law, all these foreign workers have to be fired and repatriated to their native land. In spite of the fact that this policy makes all companies follow the law (SyndiGate, 2014), there are the cases when the companies try to save the already developed talents and offer the qualified services.
In the private sector, more than 80% of the workforce are the expatriates (Alanezi, 2012) that have to be fired because of the new policy. It turns out to be a real disaster for a number of employers as well as for the whole country to lose good workers just because of their foreign origins.
Main Points
- Saudization is the policy that supports the local workforce (the locals should not suffer from the infringement of their rights);
- Saudization is the policy that brings considerable changes in a working process (the locals with no appropriate knowledge and experience should be hired in spite of professional expatriates) (Sevilla, 2014);
- Saudization is the policy that takes care of the country’s youth (the responsibilities of the young people and their possible contribution to the national economy should be considered) (Human Resources Development Fund, n.d.);
- Saudization is the policy that supports the national manpower (the citizens have to improve their education and practical skills to correspond with the demands of the local organizations).
Criteria
Nowadays, according to the new policy of Saudization, every company has to create a list of requirements that have to be met by each worker:
- Be a native citizen of the country or to have a local registration;
- Have an educational degree to find practical application of knowledge;
- Have to correspond with the occupation of the company (GMA News, 2011);
- Get special legal approval to work.
Procedure
The process of Saudization is not difficult to comprehend, still, it consists of a number of steps that cannot be neglected. For example, it is necessary to define the goals of the strategy before the identification of the locals’ needs and the analysis of the local workforce are made. Saudi Arabia is actually home for more than 8 million expatriates, this is why it is wrong and even inappropriate to deprive all these people, who currently live in Saudi Arabia, of the opportunity to use their knowledge, offer service, and earn for living.
The procedure of Saudization is a crucial step for all companies to be taken. However, it is possible to overcome its main points and provide the expatriates with a chance to save their working places, for example, to think about visas and the official registration in the country (SyndiGate, 2014).
Finally, to support the idea of the local employment, the companies have to divide their workers accordingly, hire more locals and provide them with the necessary employment, and use some foreign workforce as a reason to promote the development of international relations, which are also important for Saudi Arabia.
References
Alanezi, A. (2012). Workforce localization policies in Saudi Arabia: The determinants of successful implementation in multi-national enterprises. Management Knowledge and Learning. Web.
GMA News. (2011). Saudi labor ministry: Saudization policy failure. Web.
Human resources development fund. (n.d.)
Sadi, M.A. (2009). A framework of the implementation process: The case of Saudization. International Management Review, 5(1), 70-84.
Sevilla, H.A. (2014). Nationalization scheme (Nitaqat) in Saudi Arabia and the condition of Filipino migrant workers. Journal of Identity and Migration Studies, 8(2), 7-23.
SyndiGate. (2014). Seven ways KSA companies can hire more expats under Saudization quotas. Albawaba Business.