Expatriate Considerations in Saudi Arabia's Healthcare Sector

This paper discusses the concept of expatriates in Saudi Arabia's healthcare sector, highlighting the advantages of different perspectives and the challenges of steep learning curves. It also explores the impact of expat fees on staffing positions and the retention power of employees. The paper concludes that the healthcare workforce comprising of foreign nationals and expatriates has positively impacted the operations of the healthcare sector and the services offered to customers.

Expatriate Considerations

EXPATRIATE
Expatriates
It is observed that in Saudi Arabia healthcare, the employees are comprised of the foreign
nationals and expatriates. Therefore, in this paper the discussion will be made on the concept of
“expatriates”. In reference to this there are various pros and cons related to multinational
workforce. One of the advantages is concerned with “different perspectives”. The individuals
have different perspective, which helps the company to consider more innovative ideas. It is one
of the best chances for the healthcare sector to gather new ideas and ways to manage the
activities in an effective manner (Alkhamis, Cosgrove, Mohamed & Hassan, 2017).
But the con in relation to this is concerned with “steep learning curve”. At the time of
dealing with the patients from other cultures or countries, the workforce has to face the challenge
in convincing the patients. The expatriates face the challenge in solving the queries and issues of
the patients (Alharbi, Gelaidan, Al-Swidi & Saeed, 2016).
Also, the current system supports the expenditure of the expatriates. The healthcare in the
Saudi Arabia is free for the Saudi citizens and also for expatriates who are working in the public
and private sector. They can avail the services for free and it directly impacts the retention power
of the employees in the highly competitive market. By having support from the government it is
easy for them to take care of their health as the services which are offered are free of cost for
them (Williamson & Wan, 2018).
Yes, also the fees concerned with expatriates prevent the healthcare organizations to
attract the foreigners to fill the staffing positions. The cost incurred on them is high and it
prevents the companies to appoint the foreigners. But it has been stated that the expat fee
emphasizes on boosting the jobs in Saudi and it reduces the wide gap between the costs of
appointing the Saudis and expats in the private sector. This initiative is considered to attract and
retain the skilled foreign labors with the high qualifications. Therefore, it can be stated that this
strategy considered by the government helped in attracting the foreigners to fill staffing positions
in the competitive market (Rozkwitalska, Sułkowski & Magala, 2016). So, Saudi Arabia’s
healthcare workforce that comprises of foreign nationals and expatriate has positively impacted
the entire operations of the healthcare sector and it has positively impacted the services which
are offered to the customers.

EXPATRIATE
References
Alharbi, J., Gelaidan, H., Al-Swidi, A., & Saeed, A. (2016). Control mechanisms employed
between headquarters and subsidiaries in Multinational Enterprises (MNEs) An empirical
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Alkhamis, A., Cosgrove, P., Mohamed, G., & Hassan, A. (2017). The personal and workplace
characteristics of uninsured expatriate males in Saudi Arabia. BMC health services
research, 17(1), 56.
Rozkwitalska, M., Sułkowski, Ł., & Magala, S. (Eds.). (2016). Intercultural interactions in the
multicultural workplace: traditional and positive organizational scholarship. Springer.
Williamson, P., & Wan, F. (2018). Emerging market multinationals and the concept of
ownership advantages. International Journal of Emerging Markets, 13(3), 557-567.