After a large number of illegal expatriates left the country because they failed to rectify their status, there were many job opportunities available in the job market for both young Saudis and legal expatriates. Unemployed youths can no longer use the excuse that illegal expatriates were stealing jobs in the job market. It was reported that there were more than 750,000 job opportunities for Saudis in the market after illegal expatriates were deported. Yet, a report published on the Al-Arabiya website shocked me when the deputy chairman of the Shoura Council's Committee for Energy and Economic Affairs, Dr. Fahad Bin Jumaa, said Saudis did not desire any of these available job opportunities. He said these jobs are always there for Saudis anyway, but they do not desire them. The Shoura Council committee in charge of studying this problem concluded that there is no unemployment problem, just Saudis who do not want to work or are not qualified to do the job. I wish I could get inside the minds of these unemployed Saudis to see how they think, whether they actually think or if they have brains in the first place. There is no shame in working in any job that pays you honest money. The real shame is in staying at home when a person is able and fit to work, yet he tries to find the perfect job where he earns more and works little. If the number of job opportunities available is equal to the number of unemployed people who are not willing to take them, then we have a serious problem. Such unemployed people need to be reeducated about the culture of work and responsibility. What are these unemployed youths waiting for? This is a crime against society. When the country is doing its best to create opportunities for them to work, they sit and do nothing and wait for government to help. The government cannot employ them all. Of course this does not apply to many young Saudis these days who are taking low-paid jobs and working longer hours to earn honest money, gain experience and, most of all, learn how to discipline themselves at work. I met a young high school graduate in the fruit market in Madinah who refused to stay unemployed. He borrowed capital money from his father, went to market early in the morning and bought fruits in bulk and sold them later. By the afternoon, he earned his profit for the day and the rest of the day he would work as a taxi driver. He disciplined himself to do that every day. He told me that he earned good money, equal to a competitive salary in the private sector. He said he would feel real shame if he asked for money from his parents when he is able and fit to work. Another university graduate that I met chose unemployment because he was waiting for the perfect government job. All he did was apply for jobs and use his connections and in the meantime he was sitting and waiting because working in any other profession in the job market was not suitable for him. I blame the parents of these unemployed people for not educating them about the value of work. If we read the stories of top Saudi businessmen, we will find that the majority of them started in small jobs and worked their way up to reach the place where they are in now. They all started in the labor market working in a simple job. People from my father's generation worked hard to earn a living and they respected their jobs even if their positions were low. They respected and appreciated their work and thanked God for what they earned. Their stories of struggle are tales to be told to the segment of youth who do not respect the dignity of work. Those who refuse to work and surrender to unemployment are victims of the economic boom because they want comfortable jobs where they could be managers and give orders to other employees. It is about time we teach our youths in schools about the seriousness of working. It should become a subject in school to be taught to students. Schools should push them to work as part-timers in the job market during the summer so they would learn. We should encourage them to learn the latest technologies and at least a foreign language. Life is getting tougher. Life will only smile at those who do not surrender to unemployment. – Mahmoud Ahmad can be reached at [email protected]
