Unemployment in Saudi Arabia - Essay Example

Unemployment in Saudi Arabia Unemployment in Saudi Arabia Unemployment is the of not having a job. In a nation, the rate of unemployment is measured by analyzing the numbers of people without jobs yet are actively searching, as a percentage of the labor force. In Saudi Arabia, from the third to the fourth quarter of the year 2014, unemployment rate remained constant at 5.07%. As from 1999 to 2014, unemployment rate in Saudi Arabia was found to be at an average position of 5.51%. It was also noted that the lowest mark was in 1999, where it recoded 4.35%. The highest point was reached in the year 2006, which was recorded as 6.30%. This leads to a conclusion that from 1999 to 2014, the state of unemployment in Saudi Arabia varied differently (Saudi Arabia Unemployment Rate, 2015). As compared to China, which has a rate of 4.10 percent, unemployment rate is quite higher in Saudi Arabia. This is due to several faults in management of the economy in Saudi Arabia, which do not happen in China. However, Europe has a higher rate of 11.30 percent, which is more than double that of Saudi Arabia (Saudi Arabia Unemployment Rate, 2015). America too happens not to be any better than Saudi Arabia, as it averages to 5.50 percent. This shows that Saudi Arabia, though not doing well, maps on a better position across the world as compared to other nations. However, it is not safe to rely on such complements, as nations are globally embarking upon methods and plans on how to minimize the unemployment rate. Saudi Arabia therefore needs to get up and start moving towards finding solutions for this situation (Saudi Arabia Unemployment Rate, 2015). To many citizens of Saudi Arabia, unemployment and sufferings have dimmed the picture to them that their nation is wealthy with a lot of income from the oil sources. This means that there is imbalance of resources in benefiting the citizens. There are different types of unemployment especially depending on specific causes. One of these types is the cyclical unemployment, which is basically brought about by reduced Gross Development Products. This leads to less demand of labor, thereby bringing about unemployment for many citizens in the country. Another type is the structural unemployment. This type of unemployment is caused by production of a lot of goods on daily basis, then they are released to the market causing surplus goods which in turn calls for reduction or even a halt in production. This will lead to reduced demand for labor making it possible for many citizens to lose their jobs and probably remain unemployed. In the agribusiness sector, agricultural factors that may lead to poor production may also cause impacts that may lead to unemployment cases moving up (Boundless, n.d). Sometimes workers may decide to give up on their jobs due to several reasons. One of the reasons is if the individual is disabled. In such a case, the person may be forced to leave their places of work and probably remain unemployed. Another reason that may lead to such a situation is when the employee leaves due to dissatisfaction in their wages. One may find it difficult to work hard for low wages that probably do not solve their needs and opts to stay unemployed. These and more as we focus on Saudi Arabia’s state of high rate of unemployment are part of the reasons (Economywatch, 2010). In addition to the reasons as to why many people in Saudi remain unemployed is the fact that they remain too choosy on the kind of jobs to take. Saudis need to realize that jobs with status of their choices may take some time before coming along their way. This however, does not mean they should remain unemployed as they wait. It is necessary for them to take in the available jobs regardless of the status to at least save time as they await opportunities for the expected type of work. This will even help them afford to feed their families and gain independence even in the period of searching for job opportunities. Instead of this, Saudis opt to remain unemployed until they acquire jobs of their status. This makes many of them who are able and well skilled to remain dormant even in nation building leading to Saudi Arabia’s poor status in terms of employment rates (Riley, 2014). Another reason that has led to high rates of unemployment in Saudi Arabia is the economic dependence on parents by the youth. Many people in the modern days have refused to struggle for their own up keep and decided to continue depending on their parents’ wealth for their survival. This has led to poor participation in making investments by the current generation, thus leading to less job opportunities across the nation. Parents in Saudi have treated their sons and daughters as children even when they are mature enough to face the world and get themselves positions to build a foundation on for their lives. This has greatly created an impact on the distribution of unemployed individuals even when job opportunities are available. Similar cases have been experienced in other regions such as the U.K. (Pettinger, 2012). Another cause of unemployment in Saudi is the fact that workforce is acquired from foreigners mostly as compared to the citizens in the country. Both private and public sectors tend to hire their workers from other countries due to their better skills as compared to those that trained locally. These foreigners also tend to accept little wages for jobs that involve hardships as they later convert the currencies and it ends up changing to bigger figures that suit their needs. This makes foreign labor cheaper to employers and more effective in production activities. This again has left many Saudis who are well trained and with talents jobless, leading to unemployment rate in Saudi, mounting higher as citizens are not fully exposed to all available opportunities in the nation. Rapid changes in technology levels also lead to replacement of most labor workers leaving them unemployed. As much as Saudi is fighting hard to keep up with technology levels, it needs to keep in mind that employment opportunities may go down and to some extent may end up slicing off those who are already in jobs, leading to an increase in the number of unemployed citizens. Later it is considered as an increase in unemployment rate. When there are changes in tastes and climatic conditions, there is likelihood of changes in demand for worse. When demand for certain products fall, there will be no need of much production activities. These activities are the reason as to why employees are hired by business investors and other fields’ employers. When the activities decline therefore, few workers are needed. This decline in demand for labor leads to employment of few workers leaving other many citizens unemployed. It may still lead to laid-off individuals increasing in number, which leads to the increase in number of the jobless citizens. This could therefore be part of reasons as to why unemployment rate in Saudi Arabia has been rising high (Economics Online, n.d). The fact that discrimination of workers on basis of age, color and race still exists at some point in Saudi has also contributed in leaving many people in the country desperately unemployed. Some tribes have the belief that they cannot work together with members of a different tribe. This leaves job opportunities being available to only members of their tribe making them limited as far as the whole nation is concerned. Unemployment therefore continues to prevail in the nation yet solutions can be found just within the country. In addition to these reasons, low participation of the female gender in building the nation has also led to an increase in unemployment rate. The root cause of this is mostly viewed as barriers that are brought about by the cultural beliefs. Across the cultures in Saudi, women are not supposed to seek jobs, and should instead take care of the house, participating in house chores and taking care of the family in terms of cooking what the husband brings home and serving it to the family members. The duty of a breadwinner strictly remains for the men to handle. These reasons for unemployment should be used in coming up with solutions for Saudi Arabia’s state of unemployment (Omran, 2010). There are several measures that can be taken in efforts of reducing the rate of unemployment across Saudi Arabia. These measures include the framing up of economic policies in favor of creation of jobs. The government opts to find ways to attract more tourists in the country as it would be a major boost in efforts towards creation of job opportunities. When the number of tourists visiting Saudi Arabia increases, there will be more labor required in the hospitality field and more tour guides will need to be hired so as to take care of them. These are opportunities for more unemployed Saudis. The government will also be able to earn more foreign currency from this and its investing power will be boosted. Whenever the government makes more investments, it will require more labor. This will again increase demand for labor and the unemployed citizens will be exposed to more job opportunities. This therefore shows that attraction of tourists to Saudi Arabia will come along with great impact in solving the chronic problem of unemployment in the country. Even as job opportunities get created, it would be important to solve the problem that Saudis face for lack of employment due to lack of experience in the jobs where they get opportunities. Many qualified citizens, with skills and talents fail to be fortunate in getting jobs, not because there are no opportunities but because the employers are so choosy to the extent that they only employ people with experience from the specified field. If fresh graduates are given opportunities to earn experience, they become qualified for the highly demanding job sector. It would make more sense if these employers take them in and help them gain the experience they need. That way, they will be helping a lot in curbing unemployment instead of making the situation worse. To initiate this, the government of Saudi Arabia should act as an example and the private investors will follow. This therefore should commence implementation for a better future as far as unemployment is concerned. Unemployment could also be curbed by educating Saudis on benefits of being independent. This will help to reduce the number of citizens that are unemployed by choice, thereby reducing the unemployment rate in the nation. It will create an attitude in citizens that available jobs can help to keep one busy as they wait for the anticipated ones. As a measure towards taking care of the unemployment rate, it would also be advisable for the government to reduce limiting factors as far as business permits are concerned. Too many requirements in issuance of certificates that allow citizens to engage in business activities scare away many able and willing investors. By reduction of these restrictions therefore, the number of investors will increase leading to an increase in job opportunities (Unemployment Solutions, n.d). Many citizens are also unemployed due to lack of required qualifications. Thus, as a solution, the government could train people and help them acquire better skills. This way, demand for local labor will increase out doing the foreign labor in both private and public sectors across the nation. When employers focus on local labor, the unemployed will have job opportunities and get employed leading to a significant drop in the rate of unemployment in Saudi Arabia. If Saudi Arabia would also make job competition for citizens fair it would have great impact in reduction of unemployment cases. This can be achieved by making efforts to prevent foreign job seekers in snatching the available jobs. The government should come up with restrictions that help to control the rate at which these foreigners find their way into the country with an aim of seeking employment. Unless this is done, the Saudis will continue suffering from unfair competition for jobs where they end up losing it. As much as Saudi wants to acquire the highest level of technology, in some areas technology is not necessary, as it is not always that it will save time and cost. Some machines that replace labor are there just to show that the country is advanced in terms of technology. Such machines should be eliminated so as to create opportunities for the citizens and reduce the number of people who are still unemployed (Fakeeh, 2009). Saudi Arabia’s cultural beliefs should also be revised to do away with some that do not favor the state of the employment rate in the country. Women should not remain jobless with the excuse of house chores. They should actually offer jobs to house girls then search for jobs of their level as far as skills are concerned. These solutions should be considered by the government of Saudi Arabia in coping with the unemployment rate of the country. With all the resources, none of them should be difficult to implement (Ali, 2014). In conclusion, Saudi Arabia could do better as far as the unemployment levels are concerned, with such status of wealth and should begin implementation of plans that got solutions for the situation in them. Although it maps better than some nations, the unemployment rate in Saudi Arabia is alarming and needs to be taken care of with due attention. Citizens should learn not to despise some jobs over others. Even with great skills and qualifications, one can do jobs that need little skills as they await the big jobs they aspire for. Those talented and skilled job seekers who are from training centers with no experience should also be considered in selecting people to hire. The fact that the employers sideline them only helps to raise the graph of unemployment in Saudi Arabia. If these and the other proposed solutions, the government would make great alterations for the better. References Ali, J. (2014). Saudi Arabia’s Continuous Efforts to Tackle Unemployment. Retrieved from http://gulfnews.com/business/economy/saudi-arabia-s-continuous-efforts-to-tackle-unemployment-1.1327494 Boundless. (n.d). Types of Unemployment: Frictional, Structural, Cyclical. Retrieved from https://www.boundless.com/economics/textbooks/boundless-economics-textbook/unemployment-22/introduction-to-unemployment-102/types-of-unemployment-frictional-structural-cyclical-390-12487/ Economics Online. (n.d). retrieved from http://www.economicsonline.co.uk/Managing_the_economy/Unemployment_types_and_causes.html Economywatch. (2010). Causes Of Unemployment. Retrieved from http://www.economywatch.com/unemployment/causes.html?page=full Fakeeh, M. (2009). Saudization as a Solution for Unemployment. Retrieved from http://theses.gla.ac.uk/1454/1/Fakeeh_DBA.pdf Omran, A. (2010). Unemployment in Saudi Arabia. Retrieved from http://twitmails3.s3-website-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/users/237286227/3/attachment/Unemployment%20In%20Saudi%20Arabia%20(version%202).pdf Pettinger, T. (2012). Reasons for Youth Unemployment. Retrieved from http://www.economicshelp.org/blog/517/economics/reasons-for-youth-unemployment/ Riley, G. (2014). Unemployment - Causes of Unemployment. Retrieved from http://beta.tutor2u.net/economics/reference/unemployment-causes-of-unemployment Saudi Arabia Unemployment Rate. (2015). Retrieved from http://www.tradingeconomics.com/saudi-arabia/unemployment-rate Unemployment Solutions. (n.d). Retrieved from http://useconomy.about.com/od/suppl1/p/Unemployment-Solutions.htm Read More