Saudi unemployment rate 40%. And 6 million foreigners working there

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,9707441%255E7583,00.html

<snip>The Saudi royals, like most autocracies in Jordan, Egypt and Syria, play a tired game well known in the West. To ameliorate increasing misery among the populace (unemployment in Saudi Arabia is more than 40 per cent while $US800billion <$1.1trillion> is held by the royal family outside the country), few Arab regimes embark on liberalisation, constitutional government, open markets, free speech, sexual equality or religious tolerance.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2004-05-29-saudi-attacks_x.htm?POE=NEWISVA

<snip>Most of the dead from Saturday's attack were among the 6 million expatriate workers the kingdom relies on to run its oil industry and other sectors. They included: eight Indians, three Filipinos, three Saudis, two Sri Lankans, an American, a Briton, an Italian, a Swede, a South African and a 10-year-old Egyptian boy, according to the Interior Ministry statement read on Saudi television.

[sushi]

1. I don't understand

why the foreign workers doing the coveted jobs aren't required to train the locals so they can take over. It's their country and 40% unemployment, any unemployment, is bad if foreigners are allowed to work there indefinitely.

I guess locals don't want to do the dirty jobs, so they import people from Pakistan, India, etc. to do them, but I have read that there are many locals with degrees from universities and they are looking for work.

If the government doesn't force the western workers to train the locals, things won't change, because the westerners like to work there for big, tax-free salaries. If things don't change the locals will support "the people who want radical change," and how can we blame them then?

The government is stupid. By doing what they're doing they're ruining it for themselves.

[NNN0LHI]

2. The rich Saudis stuff is a myth. Poor Saudis are getting poorer

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/1050774.stm

<snip>Popular dissent

Their immediate problem is unemployment. Unofficially it is running at more than 25%.

The idea that every Saudi drives round in a luxury car is a myth.

For the last few years per capita income has been falling and many poor Saudis are getting poorer.

That may sound surprising in these times of high oil prices but a leading Saudi dissident, Dr Saad Al-Faquih, says not enough of those revenues are filtering down to the population.

more

[sushi]

3. That's right

The wealth is in the hands of the royal family, which is very big. Since polygamy is allowed the royal family has several thousand(!) members. The people get the crumbs. Why they haven't thrown out their rulers is a mystery to me. I can understand why people are angry. I wonder if the US will protect the royal family against their own people!

[Cocoa]

4. maybe the Saudi schools aren't any good

total speculation here, probably unfair, but maybe the graduates don't have the skills they need to be employed.

More speculation, maybe there's too much emphasis on religion in the schools -- listening, Cobb County?

[whosinpower]

5. This is one of the reasons

Why Bin Laden has gained such a firm foothold in Saudi Arabia. While he is enemy #1 among the elites, he is often considered a hero by the poor....and extreme poverty leads people into such desperation that they will do just about anything....even up to strapping bombs onto their bodies and blowing up themselves and others......