Abstract
Saudization is a popular and well known process in Saudi Arabia that advocates for employment to the locals as opposed to foreigners. Nonetheless, it has not been successful and the private sector seems to be reluctant to replace the foreigners in order to hire the Saudis despite the government orders and inducements to do so.
This has been due to the negative image and attitudes associated with the Saudis towards certain kinds of jobs and there is therefore a large percentage of foreign employees in Saudi Arabia despite the fact that Saudi Arabia is densely populated and expected to be self sufficient in terms of provision of labor. This piece of work discusses in detail, after thorough research from various documented sources, the causes of failure and effects of the Saudization as well as the measures taken by the government to foster the process of saudization.
The causes of failure of saudization include lack of appreciation of the private sector jobs by the Saudis, low wages, abrupt introduction of the aspect, and preference of the foreign workforce by the private sector employers, among others.
Some of the effects of saudization are; emphasis in education and training among the locals, appreciation of the private sector jobs by the locals and unemployment levels increase due to increase in population. Saudization is a good aspect to be adopted as it empowers the locals and however much it is good, it should be introduced to the people in a good manner without use of force.
Introduction
Saudization is a Saudi Arabian policy that entails the process of gradually replacing the foreign employees in the private sector, mainly from south and southern east of Asia, with local employees from Saudi Arabia.
The private sector is put under pressure to increase the employment opportunities of the locals through inducement and punishment policies and some form of restrictions, for example, high charges of work permits and visas for the foreigners making it difficult to hire them. It is however a process that has faced a lot of difficulties and hence have not been successful (Al-Yaum, 2006). This paper discusses the causes of the failure of Saudization and its effects.
Government Measures in Enhancing Saudization
To promote and speed up the process of saudization, the Saudi government took up the following measures; insisting on adoption of the stipulated resolutions on saudization and enhancing strong implementation strategies, disseminating information concerning the vacant job positions to the Saudi job seekers and to employers pleading them to employ the local unemployed workforce and using the Human Resource Development Fund to support and facilitate Saudization programmes and initiatives by providing employment chances and training.
Another step was to strengthen the agencies in charge of training and employing the local workforce by fully supporting the people working for the agencies and supporting advances in technology.
There was also a link between the foreign labor recruitment and the saudization policies with an aim to ensuring that the recruitment of foreign employees is only done on jobs where there is insufficiency of the local workforce and finally the identification and adoption of effective wage and salary policy, which ensures that there is a balance between the employment of local workforce and the growth and development of the private sector (Ramady, 2010).
Causes of Saudization Failure
There are various causes associated with the failure of the saudization process some of which are; the lack of qualifications and professionalism among the Saudi Arabians, poor pay to the Saudi Arabians, unexpected and poorly planned introduction of the aspect, lack of appreciation of the low class jobs in the private sector by the Saudi Arabians, the desire to work for high class jobs in the public sector, and problems in terminating contracts between the private sector companies and the foreign employees.
Most of the workers in the private sector are involved in retail and wholesale manufacturing activities and also construction aspects. These are areas perceived as being low class and therefore they are shunned and not appreciated by the Saudis. Poor pay in terms of wages and salaries is another cause of the failure of saudization as the Saudis are reluctant to work in the private sector.
Although the average wage range of a foreign employee in the private sector is lower than that of a Saudi in the same position, the Saudis still view it to be still too low to cater for their needs and hence aim for the well paying jobs in the public sector. The foreign employees especially professionals and technical experts on the other hand find the wages attractive because although low, the compensations are usually tax- free and therefore provide good if not better earnings than they would get in their home countries.
With insufficiency in skills and knowledge of the locals, it becomes impossible for the private sector to deal solely with the Saudis. The private sector is also reluctant to employ the Saudis due to the negative attitudes they have towards the jobs.
The abrupt introduction of the saudization system was not received very well as people are always resistant to change and the process needed a lot of time to be implemented. It was also hard for the private sector to abruptly render the expatriates jobless bearing in mind that they were resourceful to them (Badaoud, 2009).
Effects of Saudization
Ramady (2010) asserts that due to the saudization process, there has been a great emphasis on education and training of the young Saudi people and graduates to equip them with the necessary skills and knowledge required for efficient and effective working in the private sector. Another positive effect of saudization is the change of perspective towards private sector jobs as the young Saudis now appreciate it and can now engage in retail and wholesale trade and other low class jobs and accept the low wages and salaries.
Saudi Arabia being a densely populated nation and the chances of the population increasing year after year, both locals and foreigners, the process of saudization promotes unemployment as most expatriates and locals are rendered jobless. There have also been conflicts of interest between the government and the private sector as the government insists on employment of the locals in the companies even when there are no vacant chances (Hassan, 2004).
Conclusion
Saudization should involve all the participants and make investors feel that they have a duty in national development and hence work towards it. The Saudis should also be trained before being given the job opportunities and citizenship should not be the gauge for consideration of employment. There should also be development of new job opportunities as opposed to the substitution of the foreign employees with the locals.
Reference List
Al-Yaum, A. E. (2006). Failure of Saudization. Web.
Badaoud, I. (2009). The Quarrel over Saudization. Web.
Hassan, J. (2004). Saudization fails to Stem the Tide of Foreign Workers. Web.
Ramady, A. M. (2010). The Saudi Arabian Economy: Policies, Achievements, and Challenges. Web.