Networking Transnationals: Filipino Guest-Workers, Situational Utility and Survival in Saudi Arabia

On Wednesday, September 3rd, 2014, it was reported that the Government would ease the procedures for Filipinos to enter and exit the kingdom. This procedure was granted exclusively to Filipinos. Why do Filipinos receive such advantages? Obviously, Filipinos are a desired workforce in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The Filipino population is over 1,000,000 individuals (Johnson2010). However, the movement of people to Saudi Arabia and more specifically the movement of Filipino population to the Kingdom has been very marginally studied. This proposal will holistically examine Filipino expatriate workers experience in Saudi Arabia. This investigation shall be both quantitative and qualitative. Survey, preliminary network analysis, survey, interview schedules and participant observation are the proposed methods for this project. The objectives of this study are to identify the reasons why Filipinos decide to work in Saudi Arabia. There shall also be an enquiry into what are the mechanisms the Filipinos use to deal with the obstacles in their everyday life such as with the state bureaucracy or cultural difference between themselves and their hosts. This study will also explore the social interactions with indigenous populations, as with their employers, and social interactions with the society at large. The examination will also take into account to what degree the expatriates confront, embrace, or avoid the social institutions available to them. The applications resulting from this project does not exclusively apply to Filipinos. This study examines social change within a transnational and global phenomenal context. It is also about the relationship of two countries (hosts and guests). Filipino immigrants, thus, can be a site for international relations and state/state policy as they relate to labour and diaspora populations. This project may apply to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabias relationship to many of its expatriate guest workers. Results from this project may assist in the creation of effective policies which help expatriate workers attain their goals. At the same time this study may be used as a tool for better employer/employee relations in the Kingdom and be a model for other studies with other expatriate populations living and working in the Saudi Arabian Kingdom.