Canadians working in Saudi Arabia are being warned to maintain a high level of security after a spate of deadly assaults.
With further attacks against expatriates, international businesses and foreign compounds anticipated, western-based energy companies and their employees are weighing the costs of doing business in a country that until recently was regarded as stable, despite escalating conflicts in the region.
Canadians working in Saudi Arabia should regularly review the security situation and their personal circumstances to determine if their continued presence in Saudi Arabia is warranted, Foreign Affairs recently advised. “The indiscriminate targeting of foreigners is of great concern.”
For many, the attacks make Saudi Arabia appear to be a more risky place to do business. But that may not be the case, according to one energy analyst.
“It’s additional information companies will factor into their operations,” says Judith Dwarkin, chief economist with Calgary-based Ross Smith Energy Group, an independent energy research firm.
“It will also depend on whether they perceive this attack is part of a trend.”
On May 29, terrorists struck offices and housing complexes in the eastern city of Khobar, killing 22 people, mainly foreigners, one of the latest in a series of violent events in Saudi Arabia. In a May 1 incident at a petrochemical plant in the Red Sea city of Yanbu, four gunmen killed six expatriates, including a Canadian.
“To an outside observer it may make it look more risky, but companies in that field, or those (companies) thinking of going there, would rely on political and security analysts as to what the situation is or where it is headed – which may be quite different than in the headlines,” said Dwarkin.
While Saudi forces killed the assailants responsible for the Yanbu attack, and ended the Khobar incident and the ensuing taking of hostages, unknown gunmen in Riyadh killed another foreigner on May 21.
Also in Riyadh, an explosion killed at least five people on April 21 and destroyed a building used by the Saudi national security services.
“What we’re seeing is an escalation in Saudi Arabia, which is probably a little unprecedented,” said Bob Kells, director of corporate security for Calgary-based Nexen Inc., which has oil operations in Yemen.
“It’s a top concern for many companies who are working in the Mideast. However, I don’t think companies are going to evacuate out of any country without having done an assessment as to whether it’s viable to continue on with their business operations.”
Nexen has operated oil exploration and production facilities in Yemen for 10 years without any major problems, said Kells.
“We watch the events that are taking place in the Middle East very carefully and we react accordingly to those incidents,” he said.
“It’s not that we see something that’s happening and ignore it. We’re cognizant of it and we have to take the appropriate actions under the circumstances.”
Nor have events made it harder for Nexen to staff its Yemen operations, which are comprised of about 70 per cent nationals and 30 per cent foreigners from a wide range of countries.
“Up to this point I don’t think we’ve had difficulty finding workers in Yemen – and Yemen has had its fair share of security issues,” said Kells. “Nevertheless, our operation continues to be a secure operation in which to work.”
When it comes to finding workers for Mideast operations, there is no question that the increasing unpredictably of the region makes it harder, said Karen Coe of Coe and Company International Inc./EMA Partners International.
“Employees are much more hesitant to look at the region from a career perspective,” said Coe, the managing partner of the Calgary-based executive recruiting firm.
“There are and there will always be individuals who have done work in the Mideast, either on a contract basis or on an extended secondment, who have always accepted the risk of working as an expatriate,” added Coe. “They have made a conscious decision not to let that circumstance deter the opportunities that they believe exist, and there are some very significant ones.”
However, she noted, continuing Mideast unrest will likely affect those people interested in working in the region but who have always sat on the fence.
“For those who are cautious, this may not be the field to go into. For the first experience (candidate), companies will most likely lose that kind of talent.”
But Coe also suggested job hunters may not want to automatically turn their backs on opportunities in regions of the world that are perceived to be dangerous.
Instead, she said the key is to do their homework and learn about the prospective employer and their record.
“Each company has a different approach to their security and protocol for ensuring the safety of their employees in international locations,” said Coe. “Particularly in the Middle East, it’s even more important that before you accept any employment, you educate yourself about the company’s practices and protocol to protect the individual and their family in these uncertain times.”
But it works both ways, she added. “More than ever, companies have to look at their practices and support proper practices if they still want to (attract) good talent.”
While current international realities may get some people to reassess their career goals, there still remains a significant contingent of talented players who have chosen to work in the international field – including those working in the services, education or transportation sectors.
“They have educated themselves to the best extent possible about the code of conduct and the political environment (where they’ll be working), and they’ll always be willing to take international assignments,” said Coe.
One of those is Edmontonian Lorelei Loveridge, the Canadian Embassy warden for the Taif, Saudi Arabia area, located an hour away from Mecca.
“If oil companies can assure their employees that they have the security situation under control, and I just read in the Arab News that companies like Saudi Aramco are doing everything they can to take care of their own, then I believe that western expatriates will continue to come to Saudi Arabia,” said Loveridge.
“It is a certain type of personality that comes to the Middle East and to work abroad anyway – usually someone with a sense of adventure, or with an open mind, or with a drive to make the kind of money that they can’t make at home.”
That money includes a tax-free salary and an annual bonus of one-half to one month’s pay at the end of each year, which usually accrues to the end of a contract, said Loveridge, who has been in Saudi Arabia for eight years working as a teacher at a private American-run international school.
“There are some expatriates who are leaving or who have decided that the golden age in Saudi Arabia is over. I’ve had that discussion many times with people who have been here for a number of years. In the last five years in particular, the number of western employees in Saudi Arabia has dwindled,” said Loveridge.
“In a region hard hit by deaths, such as Khobar right now, you have a mass exodus of people in the short term.
But I believe when things settle, the westerners will come back if the companies are still hiring them, or they will be replaced by others,” she noted. “The key seems to be the assurances of security and concrete information as to what is being done to protect people.”
In neighbouring Yemen, Kells said that Nexen hasn’t experienced a mass exodus of employees, “nor are we expecting one.”
As for Saudi Arabia, “The thought that the Saudi regime could be unstable is very worrisome to markets, but that hasn’t been demonstrated,” said Dwarkin. More likely, she said, the Saudis will rise to the occasion and manage the security situation.
