[MagnitudeFC]

if you're a native Saudi citizen you pretty much are guaranteed a very cushy govt job plus tons of perks (free education, interest free loans for building a home etc). Many parts of the middle east work like this (relying on expats to do all the real work).

It will take generations for this mentality to change (if it ever can..) and by then the oil will have run out.

[distant_hat]

Yes, I once did a consulting project in Kuwait (considered one of the better places in the region) and they wanted me to consider joining as an employee. I talked to someone I knew in HR in another company over there regarding how much could I angle for and whether it was a good idea.

He told me that for the exact same job if a Kuwaiti (or American (because liberators)) would be paid $100, another white guy would be paid $70, and as an Indian I could expect $30 or so. He told me I could negotiate a bit more because I have a PhD from US but not that much. This would still have been several times what I would make in India. I declined.

[duxup]

Yeah I fear like Greece with the aversion to paying taxes, they may have a fundamental behavioral issue that will just snowball...

Granted I get why people do what they do, but as a whole, it could be disastrous. Much like your expat story, I recall a blog post by someone who went to SA for work. They enjoyed it, but they didn't get why they were even there doing the work as the people they reported to seemed to do little to nothing and could have ... just done their job, but at the same time they weren't sure those people could do that job, or much at all :(