From CDHR
May 5, 2008
Failure to Meet Labor Needs
By Ali Alyami
A combination of avoidable political, religious, social, and business impediments prevents Saudi Arabia from meeting its growing labor demands. The lack of investment in human development by the Saudi royal family (it controls the decision-making and allocations of funds) is Saudi Arabia’s most obvious impediment to meeting the nation’s labor and other needs. The Saudi educational system remains under the control of the Saudi austere religious establishment, therefore, school curricula are related to religious and nonscientific material. The religious men in charge of school books and even some standardized national exams see non-religiously educated people as threats to their control and that of the royal family with whom the religious establishment shares control over the fate of the nation and its voiceless population.
The Saudi government’s lucrative job opportunities, the lack of strong labor laws and independent, accountable and transparent institutions to enforce them, and rampant nepotism (Wastah or middlemen) in the public and private sectors discourage a competitive environment and dampen the spirits of Saudi job seekers. Whether in government or the private sector, jobs are not awarded based on a person’s education, capabilities and independent thinking, but on one’s tribal roots, region, religious orientation and above all, loyalty to the ruling religious and political elites.
The older Saudi princes’ constant encouragement and profuse praises for nomadic traditions and man’s supremacy prevent many Saudi men from taking jobs considered below a man’s tribal heritage and manly image. The disenfranchisement of the overwhelming majority of Saudi women who happen to be the most aspirant and eager to work could ease the country’s dangerous need for foreign laborers. However, these women are denied the right to work. All of these crippling obstacles can be remedied by transforming the Saudi intuitions to meet the country’s and its people’s needs and reduce the country’s dependence on foreign laborers among other things.