Dr. Muhammad Asad Sadi

King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia (SA)
amasadi@kfupm.edu.sa

Saudization, or job localization, is changing the face of the labor market in Saudi Arabia and affecting the country’s demand for labor from many developing countries in the Middle East and Asia. The campaign of Saudization in Saudi Arabia began in 1993, but acquired greater importance recently due to the rising unemployment rate that now exceeds 13%. Employers in both the public and private sectors in Saudi Arabia are being urged to replace expatriates with locals to reduce unemployment and minimize dependency on foreign labor. This paper discusses the attitudes of local consumers and experience of dairy food companies towards the replacement of expatriates by local nationals. It also assesses the experiences of five leading dairy food companies who have employed local nationals as an attempt to implement the Saudization strategy. Results reveal a positive response to the job localization policy overall, but an unwillingness amongst companies to implement the measures wholeheartedly. The main concern is the attitude towards work, poor caliber of local labor force and inadequate monetary compensation. All these concerns tend to undermine corporate efficiency and productivity and make these companies vulnerable towards risks such as operational, financial, product market, legal and regulatory.