Some Factors Affecting Withdrawal Intentions among Arab Expatriates Working in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

International work assignments are one of the outcomes of globalisation and are the cornerstone of the success of multinational organisations. Research on international work assignments has traditionally focused on expatriates, who are defined as individuals relocate temporarily to a host country for work with or without support of an employing organisation (Panda, Pradhan, and Singh, 2022). Expatriates play a crucial role in organisations by providing unique skills and experiences, expanding the organisation’s reach across borders, and enhancing cultural diversity and interaction within the organisation. In addition, expatriates can enhance the organisation’s international and business relations and expand the international network (D'Oliveira & Persico, 2023).
Therefore, international organisations must provide a supportive environment for these expatriates. One of the most important aspects of support that the organisation can provide is fair treatment and equality in dealings between all working individuals, regardless of their nationalities, which gives expatriates a sense of psychological comfort and social familiarity within the work environment.
Given the challenges and problems that expatriates face in hosting countries, this study strived to focus on some of the psychological factors that may push expatriates to think leaving the host country, namely Workplace discrimination and Social isolation; The study also sought to test the interactive moderating role of cultural intelligence on the relationship between feelings of social isolation and intentions to withdraw from the host country. Furthermore, the study population consisted of Arab expatriate employees working in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, except for employees from the Gulf countries. The study sample consisted of 534 Arab expatriates in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The results of the study concluded that discrimination at work and feelings of social isolation positively affect intentions to withdraw from the host country.
 However, contrary to expectations, there is no significant effect of cultural intelligence on the relationship between feelings of social isolation and intentions to withdraw from the host country. To enrich our understanding to the results, the researcher conducted a number of semi-structured interviews with some of the expatriates in the study sample, and concluded that this result is related to a number of possible reasons, including, for example, the expatriate's familial factors and his family's inability to adapt to the host country.
 The study recommended that business organisations should work to reduce discriminatory practices and behaviours that some managers or colleagues may commit towards their expatriate peers in order to achieve equality among all employees in the organisation regardless of their nationalities, affiliations, or cultural backgrounds