CHAPTER - V
DISCUSSION
World over people have concerns about employment and initiate their best efforts to secure jobs as a source of income. In search of employment opportunities people are willing to travel far and away in countries outside their nations such as: Morocco, Egypt, Lebanon, and Jordan, with substantial majorities saying prospects of finding a job are dim. As a result, majorities in those countries indicate that they would leave their homes and countries and move to another country to find employment. Only in Saudi Arabia and the UAE, were citizens optimistic about finding work and are, therefore, less inclined to want to leave to find work elsewhere.
Skilled and unskilled people undertake their best efforts to seek employment opportunities to support their families. In the search for job opportunities people normally do not have reservations on status, prestige, name or fame because people who are willing to work accept offered opportunities with a high sense of dignity of labor. This characteristic is missing among the Saudis who have serious apprehensions in considering what jobs they can accept and what jobs are against their social and national status. This makes many able and capable Saudis to choose to remain unemployed instead of doing something worthwhile to bring added revenue to their families.
Economic dependence on parents make illiterate Saudis to remain idle which is a national waste of human talent capabilities. Unproductive human resources is a national waste which causes huge drain on its financial resources through continued dependence on expatriate workforce. This has to be stopped at all cost because a country like Saudi Arabia with its vast energy resources need to have skilled workforce to satisfy her nation building efforts and demands.
Economic development makes certain demands on the people of the developing countries. It requires a greater acceptance of personal mobility (occupational and geographic), a greater readiness to adapt to changes in the mode of working and living, and a propensity to be an innovator.
Therefore, development if not a matter of aggregates such as capital output ratios and growth rates but involves the changing of human attitudes to be more productive and efficient, the failure of economic development plans in the developing nations to achieve their goals is because these development plans neglected the sociological factor. This phenomenon highlights the interdependencies and cumulative nature of socio-economic factors of development
In developing countries like in the Gulf countries including Saudi Arabia, there is a new lifestyle of ease, consumption and dependence upon exporting raw material and foreign labor. The people in these countries have modern attitudes and behavior patterns relating to employment and living, but they continue to value traditional attitudes and behavior pattern which govern and control their decision-making.
It is very important to recognize that the shortage of technicians and skilled labor is considered the most crucial problem which affects the national development process in Saudi Arabia. This shortage of technicians is because a very low percentage of Saudi Arabia youths are obtaining a technical education and a high percentage of them are getting an academic education. The failure of technical education to supply the country with skilled labor and technicians is due in part to Saudi youth attitudes toward technical education and work. This is affecting the rate of employment opportunity acceptance among the Saudis. Real economic growth and development can occur only when the people, society and the government succeeds in changing Saudi youth’s work attitudes to be shaped in accordance with work environment prerequisite existing at present.
The Saudi people have modern attitudes and behavior patterns relating to life, employment, family, status and culture, but they still have traditional attitudes and behavior patterns in relation to work and economic activities.
Study observations on Saudi tribal societies indicate that some traditional values remains almost untouched in Saudi society and certain vocations are contemptible, demeaning and disrespectful (like barber, cleaner, sweepers, drivers, butchers, painters and carpenters etc). The reason why some Saudi tribes like the Bedouins look down on manual work is because they look down on manual work since they have developed certain values and norms which constitute traditional ideals and virtues. The Bedouin youths and older folks have developed a mindset or attitude which makes them to believe that if they do not comply with or implement traditional ideals or virtues, they will cease to be an effective member in his / her society. Based on these concept perceptions, a Bedouin’s decision to work is not solely governed by his / her immediate family requirements, but they are also prompted, influenced and dictated by theirs and their society’s traditional explicit approval. This is what makes tribal assets like the Bedouins to look at the same work from two different views. These views push and control them with significant effect in accepting or rejecting the work. For example, a Bedouin who is voluntarily ready, willing and prepared to dig a well without least considerations on dirtying his / her hands for the sake of providing clean water for the family’s drinking or cultivating family lands will look down with contempt or total rejection about working for someone else to do the same digging say for laying the foundation for a house construction. Logically, the nature of the work is the same, but to the Bedouin it conveys different meanings. So solving behavioral unemployment requires changing and correcting traditional ideals and virtues
Book's Refrences:
1. Hill, Roger.B (1992-1996). Historical Context of the Work Ethic. from Website: http://www.coe.uga.edu/~rhill/workethic/hist.htm
2. Manal Soliman Fakeeh (2009-5). Saudization as a Solution for Unemployment The Case of Jeddah Western Region. from Website: http://theses.gla.ac.uk/1454/01/Fakeeh_DBA.pdf
3. Richard Shediac and Hatem Samman (2010). Meeting the Employment Challenge in the GCC The Need for a Holistic Strategy. from Website: http://www.booz.com/media/ uploads/Meeting_the_Employment_Challenge_in_the_GCC.pdf
4. Salah Mahdi (2000-11). Saudization and Structure of the Labor Market in Saudi Arabia. from Website: https://uhra.herts.ac.uk/dspace/handle/2299/816
