11 ms·

Multinationals face pressure to relocate headquarters to Saudi Arabia

33 points by cwwc 6y ago

smt88 6y ago
Paywall that I can't cross, but I assume this is the ultimatum discussed: > "Saudi Arabia announced late Monday that by 2024 its government would cease doing business with any international companies whose regional headquarters were not based within the kingdom." https://www.cnbc.com/2021/02/16/targeting-dubai-saudi-arabias-ultimatum-to-pull-hq-offices-to-kingdom.html https://www.cnbc.com/2021/02/16/targeting-dubai-saudi-arabia...
- sandworm101 6y ago
  I have to call BS on that announcement. I am very sure that the SA government will continue to do business with microsoft, lockheed martin and a thousand other "international companies" with regional headquarters outside the kingdom. There may be a translation issue. I suspect they mean to say all companies must maintain an office in the kingdom, the HQ for the "region" that is SA.
  - Macha 6y ago
    Alternatively, the saudi government moves to Solaris because Oracle will run an office in the country if they buy enough Oracle Cloud licenses.
- fmajid 6y ago
  Most companies treat the Middle East as appendages of Europe (EMEA == Europe, Middle East and Africa). Good luck getting staff to move from London, Dublin, Paris, Amsterdam etc headquarters to the soul-crushing wasteland that is Saudi Arabia. Dubai, perhaps, but Saudi? Most would resign outright, and I can’t blame them.
  - Macha 6y ago
    A "move to saudi arabia" ultimatum would be treated as constructive dismissal at least in much of europe, so even more so the companies will need to pay out whatever they would be contractually or legally obliged to in case of a layoff, too.
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
merricksb 6y ago
https://archive.md/URvOL https://archive.md/URvOL
cwwc 6y ago
Ah, yes! Also, Hover works great if you’re so inclined: https://github.com/hover-inc/hover-paywalls-browser-extension https://github.com/hover-inc/hover-paywalls-browser-extensio...
- juliansark 6y ago
  Thanks for this - very useful! I can confirm this works with Opera, too. Not with drag and drop, but with the "load unpacked" button in developer mode.
Clewza313 6y ago
Yeah, good luck with that. The Saudis are justly infamous for making all sorts of impractical pronouncements and quietly letting them fall through. See also, King Abdullah Financial District in Riyadh (all financial companies to move here, except they didn't), King Abdullah University of Science and Technology near Jeddah (new world-class university with the best brains money can buy, except it's not), the "smart city" Neom being built near the Jordanian border (mostly vaporware), etc etc.
- xerosis 6y ago
  Wow, that could also be the UAE to a letter.
- objclxt 6y ago
  > King Abdullah University of Science and Technology near Jeddah (new world-class university with the best brains money can buy, except it's not) I don't often get the chance to tell this, but I was - through a series of strange circumstances - briefly involved with the initial set-up of that university and I got so many war stories out of it. This included: * The contractors built the on-campus housing without drainage (...although money was allocated for drains, it somehow went "missing"). There was a rainstorm right before campus opening and most of the housing was destroyed. * During the same rainstorm very expensive IBM supercomputer was partially destroyed. It transpired contractors had drilled through the damp-proof coursing above whilst fixing a light. * A number graduate students were arrested in the first few months for fraternising outside of campus (inside the campus most morality laws didn't apply, but once you left you were on your own) * One of the chemistry labs did a roaring trade in sid (the local arabic for hooch) amongst the faculty and staff * Getting absolutely anything done relied on "wasta", which kind of translates as "clout", but encompasses a bunch of things including nepotism, who you know, and your skin color (Saudi, like much of the Middle East, suffers from significant racism. Faculty and staff who looked Indian or Pakistani had a very rough time of it).
  - throwaway123x2 6y ago
    I'd love to hear more specifics if you have em! I have a fascination with that kind of incompetence and the reasons for it.
jackric 6y ago
REGIONAL. Not global headquarters. Still jarring but about 10x less
- Clewza313 6y ago
  Multinationals operating in the Middle East all put their HQs in Dubai for a reason. Just about everything in Saudi, including things like getting a business visa to enter the country, is a nightmare if you don't have the right connections (wasta).
siculars 6y ago
I've been taking many DEI trainings at Google. I'm wondering how that will work at a Google Riyadh office. Is DEI a global truth? Does it survive contact with reality in KSA (and other locations that don't share western liberties)? What is the internal messaging to employees of multinationals investing so much in DEI when they work in (or travel to) KSA? Can I drive myself to the office if I'm a woman? Do I need to be escorted to work by a man? Are my questions outdated and I need to be educated on life in the KSA? What if I'm a Christian? Where can I go to Sunday Mass in Riyadh? So many questions...
- ramphastidae 6y ago
  I think we all know the answer to that. Saudis will get special treatment because they have money and oil. Their barbaric treatment of women and decades of financing terrorism (Wahhabism) will be ignored. DEI is mostly about profit. It’s profitable in the US to virtue signal via DEI but not in KSA.
- sandworm101 6y ago
  Yes to all and no to all too. The reality in the country is that all is forbidden and all comonplace at the same time. You will find laws saying women (or men) can or cannot do X but then you will also meet woman on the street doing X openly. The country is dominated by class and priviledge levels. The laws apply differently to different people. So the best question to ask is who will you be working for? Who is your employer/sponsor/protector going to be? What are thier chosen rules?
- yial 6y ago
  DEI = Diversity, equity and inclusion. KSA= Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. (Just in case others have a hard time, it look me a moment to parse KSA as not “knowledge, skills, abilities.”)
  - tchalla 6y ago
    I’m not sure how people post publicly to a worldwide forum expecting everyone to know the meaning of acronyms. Thank you for posting these.
AniseAbyss 6y ago
Angering private investors is not a good long term strategy. Instead look at why Dubai became an international hub for trade?
secfirstmd 6y ago
What a joke. Terrible news for gay staff and women. Plus the costs of trying to get any one to move their would be insanely high.
- david38 6y ago
  Small potatoes for the Saudis. They don’t expect either to hold high positions. Except multinationals have to convince people to move there, and why would I do that? If by expense, you mean to higher salaries and bonuses I’ll require to live there, then yes.
mensetmanusman 6y ago
Please come to Saudi Arabia, you may be in for a long stay in one of our nice hotels against your will.
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
ArkanExplorer 6y ago
How long does the Gulf continue to maintain relevance in a world of Electric Vehicles?
- skeeter2020 6y ago
  People who think fossil fuels == making your personal automobile go vroom are willfully ignorant. Good luck growing food, transporting it to where you live, manufacturing pretty much anything or heating your home with an electric car.
- LatteLazy 6y ago
  The majority of new vehicles being sold today are still internal combustion based. Given they will likely last for at least 2 decades, there will be plenty of demand for petroleum in (say) 10 years :(
tablespoon 6y ago
> Multinationals face pressure to relocate headquarters to Saudi Arabia The post title appears to be a little misleading. It's based on the article subhead, but later in the article it clarifies that the demand is the multinationals relocate regional headquarters from places like Dubai to Saudi Arabia: > But now some are worried that their lives, and those of their families, could be upended after Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman delivered an ultimatum to multinationals: move your regional headquarters to the kingdom or forget about securing prized government contracts.... > But many executives view it as an attempt to strong-arm global companies to bend to Prince Mohammed’s will and are struggling to work out exactly what it would mean for those that have traditionally preferred to locate their regional headquarters in Dubai, Abu Dhabi or Manama.... > Some executives suggest that companies may simply label an office in Riyadh a “headquarters” but Khalid al-Falih, investment minister, told Arab News, a Saudi paper, that “a superficial nameplate saying ‘this is the regional headquarters’ will not fly”. > Falih said state contracts would be awarded only to those companies that “have their entire integrated operations here in the kingdom, from the decision making to the strategic development, to manage the execution of those government contracts”.

33 points by cwwc 6y ago

Paywall that I can't cross, but I assume this is the ultimatum discussed: > "Saudi Arabia announced late Monday that by 2024 its government would cease doing business with any international companies whose regional headquarters were not based within the kingdom." https://www.cnbc.com/2021/02/16/targeting-dubai-saudi-arabias-ultimatum-to-pull-hq-offices-to-kingdom.html https://www.cnbc.com/2021/02/16/targeting-dubai-saudi-arabia...

sandworm101 6y ago
I have to call BS on that announcement. I am very sure that the SA government will continue to do business with microsoft, lockheed martin and a thousand other "international companies" with regional headquarters outside the kingdom. There may be a translation issue. I suspect they mean to say all companies must maintain an office in the kingdom, the HQ for the "region" that is SA.
- Macha 6y ago
  Alternatively, the saudi government moves to Solaris because Oracle will run an office in the country if they buy enough Oracle Cloud licenses.
fmajid 6y ago
Most companies treat the Middle East as appendages of Europe (EMEA == Europe, Middle East and Africa). Good luck getting staff to move from London, Dublin, Paris, Amsterdam etc headquarters to the soul-crushing wasteland that is Saudi Arabia. Dubai, perhaps, but Saudi? Most would resign outright, and I can’t blame them.
- Macha 6y ago
  A "move to saudi arabia" ultimatum would be treated as constructive dismissal at least in much of europe, so even more so the companies will need to pay out whatever they would be contractually or legally obliged to in case of a layoff, too.

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]

merricksb 6y ago

https://archive.md/URvOL https://archive.md/URvOL

cwwc 6y ago

Ah, yes! Also, Hover works great if you’re so inclined: https://github.com/hover-inc/hover-paywalls-browser-extension https://github.com/hover-inc/hover-paywalls-browser-extensio...

juliansark 6y ago
Thanks for this - very useful! I can confirm this works with Opera, too. Not with drag and drop, but with the "load unpacked" button in developer mode.

Clewza313 6y ago

Yeah, good luck with that. The Saudis are justly infamous for making all sorts of impractical pronouncements and quietly letting them fall through. See also, King Abdullah Financial District in Riyadh (all financial companies to move here, except they didn't), King Abdullah University of Science and Technology near Jeddah (new world-class university with the best brains money can buy, except it's not), the "smart city" Neom being built near the Jordanian border (mostly vaporware), etc etc.

xerosis 6y ago
Wow, that could also be the UAE to a letter.
objclxt 6y ago
> King Abdullah University of Science and Technology near Jeddah (new world-class university with the best brains money can buy, except it's not) I don't often get the chance to tell this, but I was - through a series of strange circumstances - briefly involved with the initial set-up of that university and I got so many war stories out of it. This included: * The contractors built the on-campus housing without drainage (...although money was allocated for drains, it somehow went "missing"). There was a rainstorm right before campus opening and most of the housing was destroyed. * During the same rainstorm very expensive IBM supercomputer was partially destroyed. It transpired contractors had drilled through the damp-proof coursing above whilst fixing a light. * A number graduate students were arrested in the first few months for fraternising outside of campus (inside the campus most morality laws didn't apply, but once you left you were on your own) * One of the chemistry labs did a roaring trade in sid (the local arabic for hooch) amongst the faculty and staff * Getting absolutely anything done relied on "wasta", which kind of translates as "clout", but encompasses a bunch of things including nepotism, who you know, and your skin color (Saudi, like much of the Middle East, suffers from significant racism. Faculty and staff who looked Indian or Pakistani had a very rough time of it).
- throwaway123x2 6y ago
  I'd love to hear more specifics if you have em! I have a fascination with that kind of incompetence and the reasons for it.

jackric 6y ago

REGIONAL. Not global headquarters. Still jarring but about 10x less

Clewza313 6y ago
Multinationals operating in the Middle East all put their HQs in Dubai for a reason. Just about everything in Saudi, including things like getting a business visa to enter the country, is a nightmare if you don't have the right connections (wasta).

siculars 6y ago

I've been taking many DEI trainings at Google. I'm wondering how that will work at a Google Riyadh office. Is DEI a global truth? Does it survive contact with reality in KSA (and other locations that don't share western liberties)? What is the internal messaging to employees of multinationals investing so much in DEI when they work in (or travel to) KSA? Can I drive myself to the office if I'm a woman? Do I need to be escorted to work by a man? Are my questions outdated and I need to be educated on life in the KSA? What if I'm a Christian? Where can I go to Sunday Mass in Riyadh? So many questions...

ramphastidae 6y ago
I think we all know the answer to that. Saudis will get special treatment because they have money and oil. Their barbaric treatment of women and decades of financing terrorism (Wahhabism) will be ignored. DEI is mostly about profit. It’s profitable in the US to virtue signal via DEI but not in KSA.
sandworm101 6y ago
Yes to all and no to all too. The reality in the country is that all is forbidden and all comonplace at the same time. You will find laws saying women (or men) can or cannot do X but then you will also meet woman on the street doing X openly. The country is dominated by class and priviledge levels. The laws apply differently to different people. So the best question to ask is who will you be working for? Who is your employer/sponsor/protector going to be? What are thier chosen rules?
yial 6y ago
DEI = Diversity, equity and inclusion. KSA= Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. (Just in case others have a hard time, it look me a moment to parse KSA as not “knowledge, skills, abilities.”)
- tchalla 6y ago
  I’m not sure how people post publicly to a worldwide forum expecting everyone to know the meaning of acronyms. Thank you for posting these.

AniseAbyss 6y ago

Angering private investors is not a good long term strategy. Instead look at why Dubai became an international hub for trade?

secfirstmd 6y ago

What a joke. Terrible news for gay staff and women. Plus the costs of trying to get any one to move their would be insanely high.

david38 6y ago
Small potatoes for the Saudis. They don’t expect either to hold high positions. Except multinationals have to convince people to move there, and why would I do that? If by expense, you mean to higher salaries and bonuses I’ll require to live there, then yes.

mensetmanusman 6y ago

Please come to Saudi Arabia, you may be in for a long stay in one of our nice hotels against your will.

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]

ArkanExplorer 6y ago

How long does the Gulf continue to maintain relevance in a world of Electric Vehicles?

skeeter2020 6y ago
People who think fossil fuels == making your personal automobile go vroom are willfully ignorant. Good luck growing food, transporting it to where you live, manufacturing pretty much anything or heating your home with an electric car.
LatteLazy 6y ago
The majority of new vehicles being sold today are still internal combustion based. Given they will likely last for at least 2 decades, there will be plenty of demand for petroleum in (say) 10 years :(

tablespoon 6y ago

> Multinationals face pressure to relocate headquarters to Saudi Arabia The post title appears to be a little misleading. It's based on the article subhead, but later in the article it clarifies that the demand is the multinationals relocate regional headquarters from places like Dubai to Saudi Arabia: > But now some are worried that their lives, and those of their families, could be upended after Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman delivered an ultimatum to multinationals: move your regional headquarters to the kingdom or forget about securing prized government contracts.... > But many executives view it as an attempt to strong-arm global companies to bend to Prince Mohammed’s will and are struggling to work out exactly what it would mean for those that have traditionally preferred to locate their regional headquarters in Dubai, Abu Dhabi or Manama.... > Some executives suggest that companies may simply label an office in Riyadh a “headquarters” but Khalid al-Falih, investment minister, told Arab News, a Saudi paper, that “a superficial nameplate saying ‘this is the regional headquarters’ will not fly”. > Falih said state contracts would be awarded only to those companies that “have their entire integrated operations here in the kingdom, from the decision making to the strategic development, to manage the execution of those government contracts”.