In a time when the Saudi economy is struggling with lower
oil prices while taking on ambitious energy and economic projects, there is some
glimmer of light for Saudi workers, particularly native citizens.
A study by the Korn Ferry Hay Group shows big increases
across the board for salaries in some industries, such as high technology and
transportation and logistics.
Another major factor in the study was the finding that over
half of Saudi nationals have held the same job for at least five years. Job
stability is another major indicator of how workers fare in a dynamic modern
economy.
In addition, some study leaders are finding that mitigating
factors could cushion the pain that Saudi Arabia and other regional countries
feel from low oil prices.
“(The) GCC region has entered this period of low oil
revenues with a positive buffer from the surpluses built in the last decade.”
Hay Group’s Middle East Regional Manager Harish Bhatia said in a press
statement. “In spite of the currently eroded commodity and oil prices, most
governments in the region have been able to sustain key ambitions of their
strategic growth plans.”
In a less positive finding, the report showed banking and
the oil and gas sector remain key employers and another demonstration of how Saudi Arabia has yet to fully adapt to the oil
slump in diversifying the national economy.
“The current climate of low oil revenues for the GCC
governments will prompt fiscal consolidation, but also faster diversification into
other industries for new sources of GDP growth.” Bhatia said. “In such times,
we can also expect talented and high potential employees to explore newer
opportunities outside of the traditional employment options.”
Commenting on the labor report, Rhea Sthalekar, an investment research analyst at Aranca, said it’s important to distinguish between work
outlooks for Saudi nationals and those of foreign or migrant workers.
“Saudi Arabia’s labor laws are based on the Shariah law and
cover all aspects of employer-employee relationship including wages, contracts
and termination.” Sthalekar told the Gulf News Journal. “However, these laws do not apply to
expatriates in Saudi Arabia on business visas, temporary contract workers and
domestic servants. There is a vast difference in the minimum wages paid to
Saudi nationals in the private sector, and migrant laborers on contract basis,
and this gap is taken advantage of by industrial giants in the country.”
Sthalekar cited recent press attention to the light of
non-Saudi workers at companies like construction giant Saudi Oger, and
unemployment among native Saudis, spurring programs to protect all workers, but
also to promote jobs for Saudis by perhaps dealing with an influx of outside
workers, in a program called Saudization or “Nitaqat.”
“Over the recent years, Saudi Arabia has recognized the need
to improve living conditions, minimum wages and benefits.” Sthalekar said. “It
has also adopted measures to curb unemployment among its nationals.”
Sthalekar also talked about how Saudi Arabia’s new Vision
2030 program is intended to help the economy.
“Vision 2030 also aims at creating more than a million jobs
to absorb the influx of employable population below the age of 30,”
Sthalekar said. “The
privatization of the education sector and provisions for vocational training
should aid improvement in human capital quality in the country.”
