Manama: Saudis have lashed out at an advertisement that offered to recruit only French-speaking Saudi lorry drivers.
The ad, exclusively for Saudi nationals, said that applicants had to be fluent in French, a language that is not common among Saudi nationals, according to the Saudi news site Al Marsad.
Under a Saudisation process launched by the government to reduce unemployment levels caused mainly by the slump in oil prices, companies are obliged to give the priority in recruitment to Saudi citizens. They can hire foreigners only if no Saudi applied or had the required qualifications for the position.
Saudis speak Arabic as their mother tongue and learn mainly English as a foreign language in schools.
“It is obvious that the advertisement is not for Saudis, but rather for people whose second language is French, such as nationals from Lebanon, Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco,” a media user writing under the moniker of Citizen said.
Abdullah said that the condition was almost impossible to meet by Saudis.
“Whoever is behind this ad is sure that no Saudi would be able to apply for the position, which allows him to claim there were no Saudi applicants and therefore he will be able to recruit drivers from a different country,” he said.
Mr Fine, another user, called on the authorities to take action against anyone who pretends to give priority to Saudis in employment advertisements, but deliberately puts harsh conditions that makes it almost impossible for them to get recruited.
“The advertisement is just a smokescreen,” Ahmad said.
“Employers know Saudis won’t apply because they don’t speak French so obviously the position would go to a foreigner,” he added.
However, some users advised against jumping to conclusions.
“It is normal for a French company to want its drivers to speak French so that they can communicate with them easily,” Rami said.
