Labour: Locals overshadowed by foreign workforce

Why do Qatari officials prefer foreigners to nationals? asked Mariam l-Saad, a columnist writing from Qatar for the independent website Ekhbariat. “Why do they give them the highest salaries, free housing and luxurious cars, while Qataris watch bitterly?’’

The column expresses the sentiment of many Qatari nationals who make up only 20 per cent of the 1m population, at a time when the country’s fortunes are attracting an increasing number of foreigners.

Though the economy needs the foreign workforce – indeed the government’s National Vision for 2030 for human, social, economic and environmental development relies on the import of hundreds of thousands of workers, ranging from low-skilled labourers to senior executives – some locals are resentful about sharing the hydrocarbons wealth.

The ratio of Qataris to foreigners in the workforce remains one to eight, and the vast majority of nationals – 90 per cent – are employed by the government. Some locals, meanwhile, have trouble finding jobs: the unemployment rate is about 4 per cent.

The government is hoping that, through investment in new technology, it will create conditions for higher-paying jobs, and more opportunity, for Qataris. But employers say that part of the problem lies with the poor work ethic and high expectations of locals.

The government is pushing on with its so-called “Qatarisation” policy, which, like similar schemes throughout the Gulf, seeks to replace foreigners with nationals. The pressure is on private sector companies to fill at least 20 per cent of their jobs with locals.

Yet many employers are reluctant to hire people they regard as poorly educated. The fact that employers can assert almost total control over foreign workers they sponsor also makes appeasing the demands of Qatari workers a low priority.

One executive in a financial institution complains that, given their sense of entitlement, many Qataris show up late and leave work early, while their foreign managers avoid giving reprimands that might raise problems later on.

Like the rest of the Gulf states, Qatar is studying improvements in vocational education and training, and plans to develop a National Qualification Framework to link the education system with job market needs.

Qatar also has launched a fund intended to tackle unemployment, including a $100m initiative led by Sheikha Mozah bint Nasser Al Missned, wife of the Emir. The new emphasis on developing a skilled national workforce fits with World Bank recommendations, which suggest that Qatar should develop a knowledge-based economy.

According to one recent bank report: “There has historically been a vicious circle between low education outcomes of Qataris, their resulting reluctance to be employed in low-skilled, low-wage or poor working condition jobs in the private sector, and the pressure on the government to act as an employer of last resort.”

The country’s top companies are broadening their search for qualified Qatari recruits by various means. RasGas, a liquefied natural gas venture majority-owned by the government, organised a jobs fair in Britain to attract Qatari students.

Qatar National Hotels Company, a state-owned enterprise, is hoping to reach its target of 20 per cent Qatari employees with programmes, including scholarships for university students, extensive training courses for nationals with salaries paid by the government, and other initiatives. Other big foreign companies seeking to enter Qatar have offered extensive employee perks intended for Qataris.

Meanwhile, the country has also expanded the capacity of the administration responsible for controlling the foreign workforce, although officials say that the increasingly strict entry and immigration regime is intended primarily to preserve security.

“Many Qataris grumble about the best jobs going to foreigners,” says one western analyst. “They feel that the jobs Qataris actually take aren’t even real positions.”