Last month SUSTG featured a Summer 2014 Report Card analysing the Nitaqat Program to significantly increase the number of Saudis in the workforce. In that article Nathan Field assessed the structural reform required simply to implement the Nitaqat initiative as well as the array of regulatory changes and their impact on the Saudi labor environment.
In today’s Guardian Weekly Benjamin Barthe takes a look at a specific example of Saudization in practice. He traces the evolution of staffing for 30 checkout lines in an ‘ordinary’ supermarket in Saudi Arabia (location and supermarket chain are not named in the article).
In 2011 the supermarket manager recognized the benefits of meeting the Ministry of Labor’s Nitaqat hiring guidelines and set his staff salaries to be competitive with those in the public sector. For his first Saudi male hires, however, the turnover was 100%. “Entering the world of work was such a shock that almost all the new recruits gave up within a few months.”
Eventually, the turnover rate moderated. The productivity rate for Saudi male checkers, however, lagged behind their Asian counterparts.
In 2012 in response to the government’s directive to employ more women in the labor market, particularly in retail environments, the supermarket began hiring female checkers.
Soon, productivity improved.
Barthe’s article nicely captures the interaction of government policy, tradition and culture and the value of intelligent management.
