Qatar ‘must attract, retain skilled expats’

Qatar continues to face labour market challenges confronting the country’s journey to diversification, senior official from the General Secretariat Development Planning (GSDP) said yesterday.

Speaking at a Rand-Qatar Policy Institute (RQPI)’ Speakers’ Series, held in partnership with GSDP, the Secretariat’s director of Social Development Director, Dr Richard Leete said the recently launched National Development Strategy (NDS) 2011-2016 addresses those challenges head on.

According to him, of the two key challenges, one is how to change incentive structure that encourages private sector to import low-wage and low-productivity expatriates from global market rather than investing in skills and technology.

This is important, he said, as natives resist low wage employment and working conditions not commensurate with their expectations, and majority are drawn to public sector, with the most talented in mixed and private sectors.

“NDS seeks to change the incentive structure to support more effective Qatari labour force participation,” Dr Leete said during a presentation titled ‘Emerging Labour Market Directions and Qatar National Development Strategy 2011-2016’.

The second challenge, he pointed out, was how to improve the education and training outcomes of Qataris - especially males - consistent with needs of a knowledge-based economy.

“(There is) spectacular progress in building education infrastructure, yet educational attainment of Qataris (remain) low, with few graduates in sciences and mathematics,” he said.

Paradoxically Qatar’s economic success makes it more difficult to incentivise demand of youth for education and training, despite increased opportunities, Dr Leete said.

“NDS seeks to provide the education outcomes to support knowledge-based economy,” he added.

Meanwhile, expatriates continue to keep the high share of labour force; only 6 out of 100 employees in Qatar are Qataris and with rapid growth particularly in infrastructure driving labour-force growth, the number of foreign workforce in that sector stood at 94% in 2009.

“NDS contains initiatives to move to a smaller higher productive workforce and attract and retain higher-skilled expatriate workforce,” he explained.

Another challenge was the fact that Qatari males continue to retire at 40 – “a dramatic fallout in participating at work, not seen anywhere else in the world”.

“NDS will incentivise and support increased Qatari labour force participation at higher levels and more private sector Qatari employment,” the official said.

According to him, NDS sets out the transition from low-skill, low-productivity and low-wage to high-skill, high-productivity, and high-wage through appropriate incentive structures for both public and private sector employment.

Photocaption: GSDP’s Dr Leete making a point at the event