November 10, 2002

SAUDI Arabia’s total population is about 22.8 million. Of this, over 4 million are expatriate workers. Many Saudis are unemployed and to resolve that, the Saudi government has ordered ‘Saudization’ — replacing expatriates with Saudi workers. This is not popular, specially with NGOs, for many Saudi workers have a reputation for coming late and not working hard. Also, everyone wants to be a mudeer (manager). Few are willing to start from the bottom.

One Saudi young man who worked as a waiter was so showered with appreciation from the government and the community in the form of money (and press interviews) that within a year, he quit his job and opened up his own business! Another, who worked for McDonald’s, was interviewed and his photo so plastered in the press that he became a celebrity!

But due to changing economies, many Saudis are forced to take low-cadre jobs. Where many work hard at it, some have devised unique and clever ways of getting the job to work for them. By subletting it to another!

When a Bangladeshi taxi driver told me that he was also a muezzin at a local mosque near our house, I was surprised. I had heard that our mosque only had Saudi employees. “Oh, the real muezzin is a Saudi,” the Bangladeshi told me calmly. “I have been hired by him to take his place. I give the call for prayer every day, and he pays me to do it.” In other words, the Saudi had sublet his job to the Bangladeshi.

The Bangladeshi was being paid SR500 for the job, a fraction of what the other man made. But he was happy. Between prayers, he dropped off children to different schools and also ran a private taxi for ladies with transportation problems. The Bangladeshi was also appreciative of the Saudi, “He is most kind. He has even given me a place to stay and does not charge me for that.”

The Saudi must have been happier, he was getting a salary for a job he didn’t do!

My surprise changed to shock when a Bangladeshi cleaner told me of a job that was sublet to him by a Saudi. “In the office where I work as a cleaner, there is a Saudi whose job it is to make tea for the boss and visitors to the office. He also has to wash the teacups and pot. The man does not like his job and hates washing the dishes, so he has hired me privately. I make the tea and he takes it in on the tray. And I wash the cups afterwards. I don’t mind because in my regular cleaning job, which is much harder, I make only SR300 per month. He gives me SR100 per month, which is extra money for me. In this arrangement, we are both happy.”

If this subletting business has you amazed, wait there is more. A Pakistani expatriate worker told me that in their office there was some problem with a Saudi watchman. He kept sleeping on the job! He was given a special devise with a turnkey. Every hour, the watchman was expected to turn the key which would tell the management that he was awake and doing his job. Very soon, the watchman found a solution to his waking problem. He requested the Pakistani watchman who worked in another office just opposite to turn the key for him every hour! For his services, he would be paid SR150. The partnership did not last long because it was discovered!

I also heard of the ‘executive sublet’! A man who was getting big bucks to man an office independently got tired of running around. He hired a younger man who visited clients on his behalf. The executive paid the young man SR2,500 out of his own pocket. This mutual agreement served both men well. The older man got good money for using his brains. The younger one got experience, training and money for his brawn!

The practice of subletting jobs is very unusual and perhaps unique to Saudi Arabia. Usually, properties are let and sublet. It seems like a sinister practice, but some of it appears to be quite harmless and is one way to beat unemployment.

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