Saudization had started by the time I got there, so they had moved on to being poor at selecting locals. Fortunately, the locals were rarely in their office and the Indian/Pakistani secretaries tended to be pleasant, competent, and available.
I have a similar story about China, pretty sure I am blacklisted. I applied for some UAE jobs last year before ending up in Taiwan, actually I’m glad this is where I am.
Sayre’s Law, I just posted that on another thread not long ago, strangely enough: