Gulf States Try to Steer Jobs to Citizens

Young men walk through a shopping mall in Muscat, the capital of Oman. In that country, "Omanization squads" confront employers that hire foreigners. (By Ellen Knickmeyer -- The Washington Post)
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In the United Arab Emirates, which has leveraged comparatively modest oil reserves to become a financial powerhouse, foreigners made up 98 percent of the private workforce last year.

With 4.5 million foreign workers and fewer than 1 million citizens in the Emirates, Emiratis long ago became a minority in their own country. Fearful of worker unrest, the country has resorted to conducting mass deportations and setting up labor camps.

Even in Oman, one of the less affluent Gulf countries, oil profits are wiping out a culture of hard work.

In the middle of the desert, for example, an Indian stood alone near his home in a cargo crate. The man, wearing floppy leather sandals, a plaid shirt and a fuzzy pink towel, is one of the Gulf's new pool of subcontracted camel-herders -- tending camels for a Bedouin family that had retreated to air-conditioned comfort on a government-provided plot of land, several Omanis explained.

Fearing the risks of putting so much of their countries' economies into the hands of foreigners, governments and foundations in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Oman and elsewhere began funding job training and business start-up programs in 2000.

Most governments have also adopted hiring quotas. In Oman, the law mandates that Omanis make up at least 50 percent of every private employer's workforce.

Saudi Arabia has put as much effort as any Gulf country into trying to get young people to work. This year, public service ads on Saudi television sought to rally capitalistic spirits -- such as one ad showing a sweaty hand clutching Saudi banknotes.

The Saudi labor minister, Ghazi al-Ghosaibi, drew snickers and praise in June when he shucked the usual flowing headdress of Saudi men for the ball cap and vest worn by waiters at the U.S.-based food chain Fuddruckers.

Beaming, Ghosaibi served up burgers for surprised customers at a branch in Jiddah. As the news cameras pressed in, Ghosaibi cited Islamic teaching about all honest work being honorable.

More Gulf young men are starting to pop up behind the counters at mall coffee shops and in other entry-level jobs, Gulf residents say, although they remain a novelty in some countries.

"I never imagined that, that one of my friends or a roommate would go for a job like that," Ahmed al-Omran, a 24-year-old pharmacy student and blogger in Saudi Arabia, said by phone.

Omran recalled the day last year when he and his friends flocked to see a sight they had never seen before -- a roommate who had taken a job and was waiting tables.