Interview With Indonesian Worker In Saudi Arabia - Assignment Example

1-how old is the woman She is a 30 year old graduate. 2-what is her martial status if married, what does her husband dois she living with him Yes, she is married but is not living with her husband. Like her, he is a university graduate and would like to find employment in Saudi Arabia. His current occupation, as an elementary school teacher, is very low-paying. 3-does she have children if so, how old are they and who takes care of them Yes, she has two children, aged 5 and 8. They are currently living in Jakarta with her mother-in-law and husband. 4-what is her level of education is it above or below the national average in her country She is a university graduate and, hence, her educational status is above the national average. 5-what type of work does she do does she have a "greedy" job She works as one of several housemaids to a rich, well-connected, Saudi Arabian family. Her working hours are quite long, running from noon to well after midnight, sometimes as late as 3 and 4 a.m. She does not have any particular job description but is basically required to perform whatever task her employers request of her. This includes house-cleaning, washing, ironing, helping her mistress get dressed and preparing and serving snacks. Her job can hardly be considered greedy as, apart from her salary, she receives no bonuses and benefits, although if she falls ill, her employers do pay for her treatment. Furthermore, her salary is fixed and is not reviewed for increases and she works hard for ever dollar she earns. 6-what kind of an employer does she work for Her employers are a middle-aged Saudi couple whose children are grown up and living away from home. They are exceedingly rich and very well-connected. The husband works as an ambassador, now retired, at the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the wife is a member of the Saudi Royal family. The couple, contrary to the stereotypical image she had of rich Saudi Arabians, treat their staff very courteously and are very sedate. They hardly entertain anyone outside of their family, although they do go out quite frequently. 7-how much she get paid for her work She gets paid USD300 for her work. 8-is this a living wage in other words, what can she buy with her income Yes, it is a living wage for an Indonesian. She transfers 250USD to Indonesia every month, keeping only 50USD for herself. Of the $250 she transfers home, $100 enter her husband's account to help support the family and the rest into a savings account in her name. The 100$ that go towards household expenses are double the amount that her husband earns per month. The family relies on this money to pay for the children's schooling, their clothes, food and, if need be, medication. 9-how/on what does this global woman spend her wages She saves half of her salary, hoping that one day she would have saved enough to buy a home. The fifty dollars which she puts aside for herself are hardly used at all since she rarely has an opportunity to go out or purchase anything. The 100$ which are spent every month, all go towards her children's expenses. 10-what is the economic situation in Indonesia and Saudi Arabia Indonesia is a developing country. Its per capita income is ranked as the 99th in the world. Inflation rates are high and well-paying job opportunities are limited. In direct comparison, Saudi Arabia is ranked as the 33rd in the world in terms of per capita income. Jobs for nationals are very well-paying and the government subsidises most services, including education and healthcare. While inflation is on the increase, salaries increase accordingly. The implication here is that even though both countries may accurately be described as developing' Saudi Arabia is in a far stronger economic position than is Indonesia. 11- explain how this woman fits into the economy of her home/host country She is an expatriate worker and this has numerous implications. In the first place it means that rather than join her domestic labour force and live her life as an underpaid worker who is reliant on government subsidies, she determined to be self-supporting, thereby eliminating herself as a subsidy-user/economic burden. In the second place, the national economy directly benefits from her monthly remittances. In the third place, by ensuring that her children receive a good education and receive proper healthcare, she is investing in the future of her country. In other words, she constructively contributes to her home economy. As regards the Saudi economy, a similar claim for constructive, economic contribution cannot be made. This is because her services are limited to ensuring the personal comfort of her employers. Were she a construction worker, on the other hand, the case would have been different and an argued could be made for constructive contribution to the host economy. 12-explain how this woman fits in the global economy She is a global worker. She has seized the opportunities afforded to her through the expansion of the labour market from the national to the international and has entered the international labour market in order to improve her economic status. Within the context of the stated, she fits into the global economy as an expatriate worker, one who transfers knowledge from one culture to the other and wealth (however limited) from one economy to another. 13-how the global or national economy benefiting for this woman's labor It would be exceedingly difficult to argue that the global economy is benefiting from this woman's labour or indeed that even the host economy is. Within the parameters of her host economy, the sole beneficiaries are her employers. The situation is very different as regards her national economy. As stated in the above, the Indonesian economy is both directly and indirectly benefiting from her labour. It is directly benefiting through remittances and through the extra income she provides her family with and which is subsequently poured into the Indonesian market every month. She is indirectly benefiting her national economy by investing in the education and healthcare of her children, hence, Indonesia's future. 14-is this global woman benefiting from her participation in the work force how She most definitely is benefiting from her participation in the workforce through the extra income she provides her family and which will contribute to their socio-economic mobility. She is further benefiting by gaining international experience and knowledge, thereby increasing her value in the labour market. Read More