OilCo is located next to a coastal city in Saudi Arabia. The firm’s campus sprawls widely across a vast landscape that is predominantly undeveloped in terms of construction and cultivation. It could in fact be seen as a desert campus, penetrated by few roads connecting the thinly scattered concrete buildings. Most foreign employees live in the firm’s residential compound, which is situated next to the firm’s campus. The workers and their families enjoy the beach in their free time, especially when the weather is warm – which is most of the year. The accommodation is classified according to the respective employee’s position in the firm, with managers living in large modern houses and lower level employees, in smaller houses, apartments or studio flats. However, Saudis generally prefer living off compound in the neighbouring towns, since most originate from these areas. A HR specialist reported that outsourced workers, who are the vast majority labour in OilCo, live in overcrowded labour camps located far from the company’ main campus. Unfortunately, I was not able to access these camps.
Away from the firm’s campus, a small building next to a car park is normally surrounded by dozens of buses full of workers from South Asia. This building houses the office granting access to the firm, including for myself as a researcher. Approaching the firm’s main entrance, there is the first checkpoint, controlled by Saudi military forces, followed by another, which is controlled by the firm’s own security guards. At both checkpoints, no physical search is carried out, but the guards ask visitors to show official ID and access permits.
A large notice after the second checkpoint lists the driving regulations for the interior of the campus. Employees and visitors are subject to financial fines and driving bans within the campus in the case of violating these regulations. Alternatively, the firm offers a free bus service within the campus, exclusively operated by a contracting firm that owns the buses. Additionally, all OilCo employees are entitled to a free daily round-trip bus service transporting them from the nearest major city in the morning and bringing them back at the end of the day. However, the vast majority of the workforce (not the outsourced) are observed commuting in their own vehicles to the firm premises, as well as within them.
Further away from the entrance gate towards the seaside, the massive refinery continuously emits clouds of smoke into the air. In order to enter the refinery, a third checkpoint must be passed, requiring another permit. No administrative workers are entitled to enter the manufacturing area without prior approval. The refinery consists of an extensive and complex system of metal piping that covers several zones, as well as tall chimney stacks and vessels holding crude oil. There are a number of units in the refinery, each dedicated to the production of a specific petrochemical product. There is no rest area within the refinery itself, but employees take their breaks in a small adjacent building, known as the ‘Shelter’. The firm’s administrative departments and divisions are distributed amongst several white buildings, some of which are only accessible by car, especially as it is challenging to walk under the scorching summer sun. Towards the centre of the campus, the senior management are based in a large building. From its luxurious furnishings and design, it is clearly a place that takes priority over all the other premises. Surrounding these buildings, gardeners originating from South Asia gather every morning to trim and irrigate the palms and bushes planted there. What all the buildings share in common is the internal structure of the offices and desks. Small private rooms are allocated to the line managers, who normally leave their doors open. This allows passers-by to clearly see whoever is inside. However, the majority of the clerical staff occupy rows of adjoining cubicles, separated by hard stands.
In the above-mentioned work stations, workers of different nationalities sit next to each other and communicate in English, since this is the official language at OilCo for both verbal and written communication. Arabic is to be heard when two or more Saudis gather together and since most of the clerical staff are Saudi, it is much more evident than English. What is not a familiar sight in Saudi Arabia, but frequently witnessed in OilCo, is that of women staff communicating openly with their male Saudi colleagues during working hours and at break times. The researcher joined such a Saudi mixed-gender group for lunch on several days during the fieldwork. However, it is worth noting that no non-Saudis ever joined this group during lunch. Moreover, when this mixed-gender group first started sharing lunch tables, some Saudi employees with conservative views complained to the management. Nevertheless, despite receiving a verbal warning from the management, the mixed-gender group resisted the warning until the management eventually gave up and decided to ignore the case.
Despite OilCo being a joint foreign and domestic venture, it is evident that Saudi norms, habits and values predominate in the respective work environment. Nevertheless, the interviews revealed a divide in the work culture, resulting in satisfied Saudis and discontented migrant workers, especially from Western Europe and North America. The Saudis generally view OilCo as a model of professionalism in terms of its working environment, while all the migrants interviewed cited a gap between the professional and social conditions they were accustomed to in their home countries and what they had to adapt to at OilCo. For example, one British administrative employee stated:
No work ethic, unprofessional and a blame culture; if I drop my coffee, someone will say I dropped my coffee.
Although the above quote mainly describes the work culture, it also hints at the control exercised over staff. The type of blame culture described by the British office worker indicated above can refer to a controlled working environment, where workers are threatened and held accountable when they make mistakes. What the above employee was referring to, seems to be true in the case of expatriates, but not Saudis. Nevertheless, both Saudis and non-Saudis were observed as powerless in terms of decision-making and were only given limited discretion. The differences between Saudis and non-Saudis will be highlighted throughout this analysis of the main dimensions of work and employment at OilCo.
A major defining feature of OilCo is its hierarchical structure and power concentration in the hands of just a few members of management. The next section outlines these levels of authority and the types of employee at each level.