Job satisfaction and organizational commitment among “ guest-worker ” salesforces: The case of Saudi Arabia

The authors explore the nature of job satisfaction and organizational commitment among “guest-worker” expatriate salesforces in Saudi Arabia. This relatively novel type of expatriate salesforce has become a dominant feature in countries with shortages of domestic labor. An examination of 504 guest-worker salespersonnel reveals that they are neither satisfied nor dissatisfied with their jobs with a slight inclination toward being satisfied. Likewise, they are neither committed nor uncommitted to their organizations with an inclination toward being uncommitted. Results also provide support for the influence of the overall job satisfaction on the organizational commitment. Specifically, three types of job satisfaction, i.e., security, general, and feedback appear to be the strongest determinants of guest-worker salespersonnel’s level of organizational commitment.