Abdullah Salih Al-Qarni
THE Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is not a poor country. However, around 1 million Saudis have left the country in search of a better future. Every year, expatriate workers transfer around SR150 billion. Are Saudis leaving their country because expatriate workers control the market and jobs? I strongly believe the Saudi labor market is in a complete chaos and needs to be reorganized and restructured to put the interests of Saudis before that of expatriates.
Yazeed Al-Rajhi, a well-known Saudi rally driver, recently launched a campaign titled “Our Citizens First.” The campaign is designed to give priority to Saudis over expatriate workers when it comes to jobs and recruitment. It is true that some Saudis do not want to start small businesses like grocery stores, barbershops, or tailor shops. Most of them want to have a fancy office and a big salary so that they can buy a new polished car. But this is not only true for Saudis. There are non-Saudis who have formed unions to protect their jobs and control certain sectors of the market.
The only solution is in implementing the strategic national transformation program to accelerate economic growth and train Saudis to venture into all sectors. We need to pass effective and robust rules that require businesses to implement Saudization a 100 percent.
