Why work is not a four-letter word

Unemployment among nationals in the richer Gulf states is not a new issue. However, the rate at which it is increasing has triggered recently fresh cause for concern.

In gas- and oil-wealthy states, there is a culture of young people wanting solely to be employed in senior positions, and ideally within the hierarchy of a respected government institution.

The public sector is seen as a plum area in which educated nationals – Saudi, Qatari et al – can make a name for themselves, without actually rising up the ranks the hard way.

Certainly, there has arisen a culture that can best be described as almost snobbishness about taking a job in anything less than a managerial position. Grass-roots employment is for these states' vast expatriate populations, it is not?

But, as Saudi Labour Minister Ghazi Al Qusaibi said wisely: "There are only two types of work—good and bad work. There is nothing greater than a man starting from the bottom of the ladder and reaching its top… to start from the top is not an accomplishment because the real challenge and achievements is to climb the ladder step by step."

In Gulf states not blessed with the riches of others, such as Oman and Yemen, it is entirely expected for the local population to rise in the morning and do a day's work for a day's pay – regardless of the seniority or not of their position. This is how people play a healthy and productive role in their respective societies. And this culture, quite frankly, seems to work in most other places in the world.

These are meritocracies, where the best and the brightest rise through the ranks to lead a company or organisation through its next stage of development and growth.

Positive discrimination, for better but mostly for worse, is not to be encouraged without strict controls on quality.

But it is this culture of assumed superiority which leads many young people in Saudi and other nations to choose not to work, and not to work in a position they see as beneath their standing, professionally or socially.

As is witnessed in developed nations, the most destructive influence on any society is bored young people, principally young men.

It is this segment which need engendering, to be encouraged to take their position in the jobs market and help their nation – in a small way or large – to became a regional or global player.

Perhaps there is something to be learned from less wealthy nations, specifically but exclusively here in the Gulf, where everyone, regardless of the position they hold or the education they have achieved, goes out to work.