DUBAI: Record high oil prices have fed an economic boom in the Gulf Arab region, but the goal of energy-rich countries like Saudi Arabia to replace an army of migrant workers with their own citizens is as elusive as ever.
Oil wealth has turned what were small, dusty settlements like Jeddah, Dubai and Doha into American-style cities with shopping malls, burger bars, highways, office blocks and hotels. But the towering skylines were built with brains and brawn imported from the United States, Europe and India.
In Dubai, Filipinos staff supermarket check-outs, Sri Lankans serve in restaurants, Arab expats dominate the media industry and foreigners staff the universities.
English or Hindi are more useful languages than Arabic becuase only a fifth of United Arab Emirates’ inhabitants are locals.
“In general, they have not succeeded in replacing the expatriates, who definitely have better work ethics and work for cheaper salaries,” says Mai Yamani, a Gulf region specialist at the Royal Institute of International Affairs in London.
Saudi Arabia began trying to replace foreign workers with its own citizens a quarter century ago. One veteran expatriate remembers a Saudization drive launched in 1980 which aimed to phase out foreign workers in his firm within five years.
Such schemes could only ever work if the new recruits were trained and motivated for the job. Governments have instead tended to use their vast oil incomes to maintain swathes of their workforce in well-paid civil service sinecures.
With oil prices near a record of over $60 a barrel, Saudi Arabia is expected to post a $35 billion budget surplus this year. But rapid population growth means the government will not always be able to solve its problems by throwing money at them.
Boredom and disillusion is rife among the 60 per cent of Saudis who are under 18 years old, creating fertile ground for firebrand mullahs to channel their frustrations into Islamic fundamentalism.
In response, the government is spending more than ever on training schemes and subsidies to encourage companies to employ Saudis. But critics say the campaign does not address the real problem.
DISAPPOINTMENT: Few locals would willingly give up a government post for a private sector job offering less prestige, security and money. Many new recruits are quickly disappointed because they lack the skills to rise to a position they would be proud of.
“It can be hard to find a Saudi who’s got the qualifications and can compete with a foreign worker,” said one expatriate who recruited Saudi employees earlier this year.
The government has targeted specific sectors for Saudization — from taxi drivers to travel agents, with limited success, and Labour Minister Ghazi Algosaibi had to extend several deadlines for phasing out foreign labour in those areas.
When the deadline passed in February for the 100 per cent Saudization of taxi fleets, he was forced to set a more modest quota of 30 per cent because the pool of potential Saudi drivers could not meet demand.
The decision prompted a rare public protest by Saudi cabbies who said they were losing out to foreign competition.
In February 2004, police rounded up several foreigners — mainly Indians and Pakistanis — in a crackdown on travel agencies employing non-Saudis.
Many agencies were forced to shut down temporarily. Newspapers reported that at least one firm hired Saudis in the front office while experienced Asian staff sat in a van outside taking the bookings.
FRUSTRATION: But the cliche of the local who spends two hours at the office drinking coffee and chatting on his mobile phone ignores the plight of millions of poorer Saudis who are keen to work but frustrated by a lack of training opportunities.
Many are now embarking on careers they might have considered too menial only a few years ago, such as supermarket cashiers.
Women are perhaps the worst off — it’s hard to do a job when you are forbidden to walk the streets alone or drive a car.
Some observers say the region’s oil wealth allows governments to avoid implementing policies that would help unskilled citizens into work but would be hard to stomach for the conservative elite.
It is in countries where the lucrative energy reserves are dwindling — Oman and Bahrain — that expatriate replacement programmes are said to be really working.—Reuters
Dear visitor, the comments section is undergoing an overhaul and will return soon.