FOREIGN workers deem the year 2009 as one with fewer prospects for advancement in terms of salary increments, incentives, and better work conditions. They are aware that the existing global financial crisis facing the world and affecting the competitiveness of Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries may not guarantee a better deal for them. Aravind Pillai, business development manager of a large contracting company, said the company is looking for Indian and Filipino workers who have a release letter from their former sponsor to work for their new oil project. He, however, said his company may not offer the same salary scale as that offered about a year ago. “Jobs are available, but with much lower pay. If I were an expatriate worker, I would grab the opportunity to get any job now because these are hard times for all workers - Saudis and foreigners alike. The opportunities for career advancements or pay hikes no longer exist,” he said. Pillai said local companies are getting less value in their current contracts. Many expats said they are now clinging to their jobs because there are fewer options if they return home to reintegrate themselves. “I will stay here in Saudi Arabia and will not risk trying my luck in Qatar,” said Rene, a Filipino architect. For those in the service business, the prospect is grimmer. “I am not going to resign. I will stay even if my earnings are less than what I had hoped for,” said Ronald, a Filipino barber in Al-Khobar. Expat nurses in private hospitals say they are also feeling the pinch of the economic slowdown. Many have postponed their plans of migrating to the US or Europe for better salaries. Although salaries in private hospitals in the Kingdom may not improve, most expat nurses would rather have their contracts renewed for another term of two years. New nurses usually start with a basic salary of around SR2,000 along with a food allowance. Six private hospitals in the Eastern Province have virtually the same salary scales for their nurses. A private hospital that has recently signed new contracts with large companies to provide out-patient services said increments for its nursing staff were not in the cards. “We wanted to write a letter to the hospital director asking for a pay hike. Even before we sent the letter, the personnel manager told us that they are not even considering increments,” said MJT, the hospital's nursing director. “Most nurses no longer dream of migrating to America and Europe; most of them want to stay in Saudi Arabia as long as their services are required,” she said. Workers in the oil drilling sector are also facing a bleak future. “A number of oil rigs have been decommissioned because the national oil company sees no need to hike production because of the declining price of oil,” said Rudy, a veteran oil rig operation supervisor. A number of expatriate families who had earlier planned to retire and return to their countries are deferring their retirement as long as their services are needed by their employer. “My company said I am still needed, although I am now eligible to retire. So I am staying,” said Conrad, a Filipino project engineer. S. Kumar, an Indian executive secretary who has worked for a trading company for over 20 years, is due to retire. “I am in my late fifties and plan to return home by the end of this year, but now I am having second thoughts. My employer wants me to stay, and so I am staying. Life back home will be difficult as many workers from the Gulf head back home as a result of job cuts,” he said. S.M. Gopalan, an Indian waterproofing technician with 10 years experience, got a release from his old employer to join a new company that offered him better pay. That was before the global financial crisis set in. However, the new employer who was supposed to employ Gopalan said he can no longer employ him because the project that was to be managed by him (Gopalan) has been deferred. Gopalan requested his former employer to give him his old job back, but was told that the company was retrenching its staff because of a lack of new contracts. Gopalan, who has a release paper, is now looking for a new employer. Jomar, a Filipino logistic supervisor, is in a similar predicament. He left his old job for a better offer. But he is still waiting for the new employer to finalize his transfer. Migrante International, a non-government organization (NGO) supporting overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), has warned the Philippine government of the impending return of thousands of migrant Filipinos who will be displaced from their overseas jobs as a result of retrenchments, lower wages, and poor working conditions. According to reports, around 700 overseas Filipino workers have recently lost their jobs in Taiwan as factories there closed down due to lower demand in exports. Other countries that have retrenched Filipino workers are Australia, the United Kingdom and Brunei. Migrante International said it would hold President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's administration “fully accountable for being hell-bent on exporting a large number of Filipinos abroad amidst the worsening global crisis.” The NGO recalled that during Arroyo's 2007 state-of-the-nation address, she pledged to deploy two million OFWs before her term ends in 2010. __
