Share your thoughts with our readers: Email your contribution, no less than 300 words, to [email protected] Being young involves preparing for the future, for adult life. Finishing one's education, finding a job, leaving the parental home, getting married and establishing an independent household and family life are the main steps in gaining social and economic independence. For many young people, however, it is not easy to undertake this transition. Unemployment or merely the threat of it, colors the lives of thousands of young people in Saudi Arabia. Youth unemployment has risen explosively in recent years. Now, the question arises: Why does this phenomenon occur in a country which is considered the main oil producer in the world? Many young people in Saudi Arabia think that having a job means being paid a high salary. Most young Saudis think that employment is a state in which one has no economic problems rather than a pursuit of a lifelong rewarding career. This thinking results in a culture in which the vast majority of Saudis will not accept a job that pays less than their expectation, an expectation which surely needs to be changed. In Saudi Arabia approximately 100,000 graduates enter the job market on an annual basis with only a small number of them able to find a job and others refusing to work due to low wages. This has been contributing to the problem of unemployment ever since the late 1990s. Unless this changes, there will always be unemployment. Once an individual is registered as unemployed with the Ministry of Labor, the government will provide that individual a substantial amount of money to help him/her cope with their basic needs. The problem is that the amount of money those individuals are receiving is the same or even more than what they would receive if they were engaged in productive employment. This causes even higher unemployment rates as most of the unemployed people will be discouraged to actively seek work. Although the country has taken steps to tackle unemployment, such as the Saudization or Nitaqat campaign, the main cause of unemployment lies with the youth themselves. I think this problem could be solved if the government together with the education institutions worked to develop a complete shift in attitude toward work ethics. A program that encourages most youth to actively seek productive lives rather than just higher digits in a bank balance is needed. There should be a focus on the experience gained rather than income received. As far as I am concerned, I believe this kind of approach would definitely decrease the high rate of unemployment if not eliminate it completely. Finally, I as a concerned young Saudi undergraduate strongly feel that the unemployment problem will not be reduced overnight; it can only gradually decrease if both the government and youth sincerely commit to make it happen. Fawwaz Salim Elahi
