"The oil-fuelled behemoth of the Saudi economy seems to have little in common with the rickety finances of most African nations. Yet unofficial estimates put the Gulf state's unemployment rate at 25 per cent of the male population - a level you would find in Ghana or Mozambique.
In Saudi Arabia, however, the problem is not a lack of jobs but what jobs fastidious young Saudis, raised in an affluent leisure culture, are prepared to do. With under-motivated workers, the country is utterly dependent on cheap imported labour. Between half and two-thirds of the workforce is made up of non-Saudis from the Asian subcontinent, Indonesia, the Philippines or less wealthy Arab countries; they are employed as cleaners or factory workers."
In Saudi Arabia, however, the problem is not a lack of jobs but what jobs fastidious young Saudis, raised in an affluent leisure culture, are prepared to do. With under-motivated workers, the country is utterly dependent on cheap imported labour. Between half and two-thirds of the workforce is made up of non-Saudis from the Asian subcontinent, Indonesia, the Philippines or less wealthy Arab countries; they are employed as cleaners or factory workers."
This interesting article in the New Statesman reveals a side of Saudi Arabia not normally reported in Australia. Yes, there might be money pouring in from the sale of all that oil - and rising prices for that oil to boot - but what is happening in this Kingdom is in many respects little different to the West. Read the full article here.
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