lms study for qt cover

52 Qatar Today APRIL 2006

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FORCESElsewhere in the world

unemployment is on the rise, but here in Qatar the demand far

outweighs the supply! It is esti-mated that the number of jobs in the country will increase by the thousands every year, and the country’s biggest challenge will be in meeting this need.

The World Bank authors of a re-cent report commissioned by the Planning Council suggests that Qatar could become an interna-

tional model for how to build an economy without creating social inequalities. But, it warns, ma-jor deficiencies in the workforce deployment system (particularly public education) must be ad-dressed. Qatar Today gives you an exclusive peek into the La-bour Market Study and takes a look at the labour market issues that confront Qatar and the steps being suggested to mitigate these concerns from haunting Qatar for many decades to come.

APRIL 2006 Qatar Today 53

ThE 160-PagE World Bank assess-ment of the Qatar Labour Market would make a reasonable dust catch-er on any government agency book-shelf.

But the Secretary general of the Planning Council Sheikh hamad bin Jabor al Thani is determined to make sure this document doesn’t suffer that fate.

“The issues are too important for the future of Qatar,” says Sheikh hamad (see interview on pg 63). “Through the leadership of hh the Emir, Qatar is developing a dynam-ic economy. One of the aims of this economic strategy includes creating employment opportunities for Qatari nationals.”

But the Planning Council believes that the achievement of this goal re-quires some remedial strategies to get the formula right.

The math is simple. Taking one pro-fession as an example, in the next 5 years Qatar will need about 9000 en-gineers to support its mushrooming

economy. In 2004, only 2 percent of the graduates from Qatar University were in engineering, a mere 26 Qatari engineers.

In the public sector, as govern-ments overseas are becoming more strategic and efficient, the size of their public administrations is shrinking.

Certainly, in Qatar recruitment in the public sector has slowed but the share of Qataris employed by the public sector continues to trend up-wards. So while future employment opportunities are in the private sec-tor, currently 95 percent of all Qataris are employed in the wider public sector and growing – 1986 it was 90 percent.

Contrast that with halving of Qa-taris in the private sector from 10 percent to 4 percent over the same period.

The Planning Council invited some of the world’s top experts to study the local labour market. With the in-volvement of many government and private sector agencies, the World Bank’s analysis was blunt:

The Qatari labour force is neither large enough nor suitably quali-fied to sustain the size and the specialised nature of the economy that is generated by the oil and gas sector.

...while future employ-ment opportunities are in

the private sector, cur-rently 95 percent of

Qataris are employed in the public sector – 1986 it was 90 percent. Con-trast that with halving

of Qataris in the private sector from 10 percent to 4 percent over the same

period

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The deployment of the Qatari la-bour force is further constrained by an eightfold segmentation and by poor outcomes of the workforce deployment system, especially with respect to the education of Qatari men.

The ability of the labour and educa-tion authorities to coordinate with-in and between themselves, and to jointly guide the development of the workforce, is hampered by policy, organisational and admin-istrative impediments and statisti-cal inadequacies.

This month the Planning Council is launching the Qatar Labour Mar-ket Strategy National Action Plan. The Plan is a bold medium-term, multi-sectoral approach to building sustainable labour market policies to meet the future needs of the Qa-tar economy and its people. Based around nine key recommendations, the Plan includes:

The need for a national body for workforce development

Developing an educational Nation-al Qualifications Framework

Improving the system for granting visas for expatriates

Moving towards a performance-based public sector employment system

Sheikh hamad says that while some may consider the recommendations

challenging, he believes that there is a unique opportunity to capitalise on Qatar’s burgeoning economy by en-hancing the employability of Qatari nationals.

But it’s an opportunity that the Planning Council cannot undertake alone.

“as a strategic policy agency, it’s the Planning Council’s duty to bring to the attention of higher authori-ties and other agencies, any issues that may have an impact on achiev-ing Qatar’s wider vision,” he says. “We also have a role in helping to facilitate the path to some of the so-lutions, but it requires the involve-ment and commitment of multiple private and public sector agencies over a minimum 3-year period to successfully transform the Qatar la-bour market.”

An International ModelOften the term “expert” is loosely used for anyone with some specific knowledge but it couldn’t be more appropriate for Professor Zafiris Tzannatos, the Beirut-based Advisor to the World Bank.

With more than 14 text books on labour markets and economics, and over 100 publications to his name, when this expert says Qatar could be an international model, people listen.

Professor Tzannatos (see interview

pg 69), who was previously World Bank Manager for labour markets and social protection for the MENa (Middle East and North africa) re-gion, was the lead author of the Qa-tar Labour Market Strategy report. Having studied dozens of economies and practically all the arab coun-tries, and having led the preparation of the World Bank’s Social Protection Strategy in the MENa (in 2002), he believes “the Qatar labour market presents an unparalleled complexity that requires out-of-the-box thinking if one wants to sincerely address the Qatari needs rather than satisfy some kind of economic theory”.

“The strength of Qatar today does not arise just from the recent eco-nomic developments that are also found in many other economies. Its strength lies in the articulation of social and political issues led by a vision to create an efficient Gov-ernment and a diversified economy through increasing the role of the private sector. This vision is both forward-looking and feasible,” he says.

Many countries are rich or becom-ing richer but many fail to set priori-ties guided by sound principles, so they cannot sustain the result and end up being worse off than they were years before.

There are many oil-abundant economies that have lagged behind

Distribution (%) of Qatari Workers by Employment Status andEconomic Sector

Status (%) 1986 1997 2004

Employer 4 3 2

Self-employed 2 1 0

Wage earner 93 96 98

Sector (%)

Government 90 95 96

Private 10 5 4

Total (no.) 20,807 36,275 50,282

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The Qatari labour force is neither large enough nor suitability qualified to sustain the size and

specialised nature of the economy that is gener-ated by the oil and gas

sector


their – at face value – less fortunate labour-abundant counterparts. The prospects for Qatar can be entirely different.

“Qatar has the preconditions for becoming an international example of a country that integrates into the world economy without increasing

inequality,” he says.Professor Tzannatos says, while

some of Qatar’s characteristics can be found in various proportions and

1The Qatari population is not large enough to support the economy created by the oil and energy sectors.

Between 1997 and 2004 the annual population growth rate of Qataris has been 2.2 percent compared to 6.5 percent for non-Qataris.

2Recent employment trends among Qataris are going in the government service sector in the sense that

the share of the Qatari labour force in the private sector and in entrepreneurial jobs (such as employers or self employed) has been decreasing while the share of Qataris in the government service sector has been increasing.

3If the current trends continue, future large scale in-vestments will have little primary employment impact

on Qataris. These are concentrated in sectors where Qataris do not work or are offered jobs for which Qataris cannot compete (for example, for lack of education, skills or experience) with expatriate workers.

4The combination of various benefits for Qataris and more generous working conditions in the government

service sector results in Qataris not working in the private sector. Though there are nearly 400,000 employed expatriates, when looked upon closely, only about 25,000 jobs in the private sector are acceptable to Qataris if they had the necessary qualifications for such jobs.

5There is a large male deficit in education that prohib-its Qataris from deservedly replacing non-Qataris. For

example, the enrolment rates of Qatari men in secondary education are already lower than those of women; the examination pass rates and progression rates from one education level to another is also lower than men; there are nearly three female university students for each male student at Qatar University; by age 25, Qatari males have already lost nearly 6,000 education years compared to Qatari females; and there are (in 2004) nearly 1200 fewer Qatari male workers with university education than Qatari women.

6Overall the linkages between education and the labour market are weak including (a) an embryonic

training system (with notable exceptions, such as Qatar

Petroleum) and (b) a concentration of studies in soft subjects. A significant share of education output (such as female teachers) becomes an input to the education system.

7If the current patterns continue, expanding qualified Qatari employment in the board public sector is the

most likely option to keep unemployment from rising. In the intercensal period (1997-2004) Qatari workers in public administration displaced fewer than 500 non-Qatari workers annually. This compares to an annual net increase of the Qatari labour force by 2,000. More education among Qataris and faster replacement of non-Qataris would be required to keep the public sector from expanding in the absence of performance-based public sector employment.

8Unemployment affects primarily less educated Qatari men and more educated Qatari women. Solutions

would require an aggressive drive to educate more Qatari men and a reduction in gender segregation.

9The rationale/administration/transparency of issuing foreign work permits needs to be improved (between

the Ministry of Interior, Department of Labour, Ministry of Civil Service and Housing’s Foreign Recruitment Com-mittee) and the information on foreign workers better utilised for manpower planning.

10The new Labour Law and its Executive Regula-tions are landmarks in labour relations and are as

such commendable. However, the new rights recognised therein and the fast track economy, involving heavy legal relationships, will attract more labour frictions and disputes.

11Qatarization as stated today will be difficult to achieve as, in addition to constraints imposed by

the education deficit of male Qataris, the Qatari labour force has been increasing annually (1997 - 2004) by 2,000 while the non-Qatari labour force by 20,000 (and possibly faster since the census was undertaken).

(Source: Planning Council)

Labour Market Strategy Report Findings

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combinations in other economies, the Qatari labour market is a quanti-tative outlier in three respects: In a typical country, investments

around the $100 billion should generate thousands of jobs and, though this is expected to be true for Qatar in general, Professor Tzannatos says it is however large-ly irrelevant in terms of the direct employment impact it will have on Qatari nationals.

Secondly, based on the latest statis-tics available and among compara-tor countries (if not in the world), Qatar has the smallest and de-clining share of nationals in the labour force. This creates a compli-

cation in that one needs to assess separately the contribution of the total labour force to the economy and the contribution of such an economy to the welfare of its own citizens.

and related to the previous point, labour markets perform best when they are competitive. however, in Qatar you factor into the analysis that there are three critical divi-sions (public/private, national/expatriate, male/female) that leads to the creation of eight differ-ent segments in the labour force.

“Once economic growth is ruled out as the main driver for employ-

ment creation and reducing un-employment and if labour market segmentation is accepted as a fact, economists quickly run out of con-ventional policy options and need to search elsewhere for solutions” said Tzannatos.

So, rather than starting from a the-oretical base, the World Bank study is based on a tortuous analysis of sta-tistics derived from the 2004 popula-tion census by asking three interre-lated questions:

What kinds of jobs are expected to be created in the future and which ones are likely to appeal to Qatari job seekers?

are the Qatari job seekers suitably qualified (e.g. from the education system) to do the jobs they aspire to do?

given that the welfare state in Qatar takes largely the form of “benefits via employment in the broad pub-lic sector,” how can one encourage nationals to work in the private sector (a sector that has seen its Qatari labour share decline from 10 percent in 1986 to 4 percent in 2004)?

By examining these interrelated questions and with the use of a new-ly-constructed Qatar-specific soft-ware model for manpower analysis and simulations, Professor Tzanna-tos says that the conclusions were not hard to reach.

Education DeficitThe first conclusion is that Qatar’s stellar performance in education has room to – paradoxically – further im-prove.

The education system is tasked with preparing its nationals to ac-quire the competencies to enable them to substitute for non-Qatari workers – ideally at the higher end of skills and occupations. Clustered

Compared with Qatari Girls, Twice as Many Qatari Boys Fail Exams and Drop Out of School

(dropout and failure rates, 2001/2)

Dropout Failure

Level Male Female Male Female

Primary

Grades I–IV 4.0 2.0 4.0 3.0

Grade V 7.2 3.2 11.0 8.0

Grade VI 8.9 2.5 9.0 3.0

Average (%) 5.1 2.4 6.0 4.0

No. of students 941 470 1,113 714

Preparatory

Grade I 5.2 1.1 17.0 6.0

Grade II 7.5 2.4 10.0 6.0

Grade III 6.5 2.7 8.0 5.0

Average (%) 6.3 2.0 12.0 5.0

No. of students 553 198 1,016 532

Gen’l secondary

Grade I 12.2 3.7 25.0 14.0

Grade II 6.3 2.8 10.0 4.0

Grade III 13.0 10.5 23.0 12.0

Average (%) 10.6 5.5 20.0 10.0

No. of students 455 1,161 1,273 839

Figures subject to rounding errorsSource: Annual Statistical Abstract, PC 2003

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together, the general education sys-tem, the training and the higher education sectors combine to act as a workforce development system. But how well does this system work for Qatar?

In many respects preparation for work begins in elementary school. Basic literacy, math, and social skills prepare students for their future ca-reers. Qatar public education system started in 1952 and, albeit small, has all the ingredients for comprehen-sive coverage, and with appropri-ate administration and management structures, should be able to serve the population at large.

“however, it’s at this bottom end of the spectrum that thousands of school years are lost by students, most often males, failing to pass exams, repeating classes, dropping out of secondary education and not being able to subsequently pursue more rewarding university studies that are critical for their own and their families’ welfare and also for Qatarization to succeed ,” says Pro-fessor Tzannatos.

Employers, such as Qatar Petro-leum (QP) and other medium-sized operations, report that secondary graduates need substantial remedia-tion before they can enter company training. In the case of QP, most sec-ondary school graduates receive 26 weeks of remedial education in math and English before entering compa-ny training.

“We estimate that the productiv-ity loss due to inadequate schooling, especially among Qatari males, may be over 30 percent more than what it could realistically (not ideally) be. This is not encouraging if the objec-tive of Qatarization is to succeed, as one cannot expect the private sector to pay nationals wages that do not match their productivity. and it risks creating inequalities amongst Qatar-is,” says Professor Tzannatos.

Education, the Gender divide and TrainingFurthermore, the drop-out and fail-ure rates of Qatari students is show-ing a marked gender difference with boys more than likely to drop-out or fail than girls – a trend that can be seen right across the education sys-tem. In fact by the age of 25, for ev-ery 100 Qatari women with univer-sity qualifications there are only 46 Qatari men equally qualified.

One formula used to measure the gap is to multiply the years re-quired to reach each level of educa-tion by those women and men who have reached that level of education, producing the total years of educa-tion by gender. according to this calculation, 529 Qatari men age 25 in 2004 have completed 6,348 years

of secondary schooling compared with 6,864 years completed by Qa-tari females. Similarly, the amount of a diploma education received by the 25-year-old Qataris in 2004 comes to 364 years for Qatari men compared with 490 years for Qatari women. For university education, the calcu-lated number of years comes to 4,400 for men and 9,632 for women. The World Bank says that assuming that each year of education increases pro-ductivity by about 10 percent, the Qatari men’s schooling deficit (com-pared with women) reduces the con-tribution of male workers to the real economy by about 15 percent each – not an insignificant amount.

The report indicates that the link between the labour market and the education system is particularly weak.

While the economy is growing on the back of the oil and gas industry, for example, the national curriculum does not include any material on that industry. Furthermore there is no concerted school-based career edu-cation component in the curriculum. also, public schools do not have ca-reer counsellors.

“Without a career goal in mind, it is difficult for young people to un-derstand the value of education or to be motivated to overcome barriers they may encounter,” says Professor Tzannatos. “If school does not pro-vide career awareness and explora-tion, students must rely on their fam-ilies to learn about work and careers. Qatar no longer faces the problem of elders lacking an understanding of the labour market. Modern parents are more educated and are employed in the formal sector, and many have studied abroad. however, because most Qataris work in government or the broader public sector, children are likely to learn little from their parents about the private sector.”

at the higher education level, the

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“Many countries are rich or becoming richer but many fail to set pri-orities guided by sound principles, so they can-not sustain the result

and end up being worse off than they were years

before. The prospects for Qatar could be entirely

different. Qatar has the precondi-tions for becoming an

international example of a country that integrates into the world economy without increasing in-equality.” – World Bank

Consultant Professor Zafiris Tzannatos


link between industry and education is developing but still requires im-provement. The World Bank report says predictably that Qatar Univer-sity has grown with little anticipation of the fast changing oil economy and the resulting needs of the labour mar-

ket. For example Qatar University graduated more students in educa-tion than in any other degree (gradu-ates who then go on to become inputs into the education sector itself), only 2 percent of all degrees and certificates awarded to Qataris were earned in

engineering.Though records of Qataris over-

seas are incomplete, it is likely that the number of Qatari students study-ing overseas may have declined in recent years.

Official data shows that between 2000 and 2003, undergraduate num-bers fell from 750 to 620 and post-graduate from 466 to 427. Interest-ingly, for an economy built on oil and gas, currently there are six times more Qatari PhD students in education/arts than in engineering – a mere six Qatari PhD engineers will be added to a $30 billion economy in the next couple of years.

The weak link between the educa-tion/training sector and industry is further exacerbated by a training sec-tor in Qatar which is a mix of largely uncoordinated public, private, and company training programmes.

“Institutions are disconnected from each other while programmes are focused on the needs of a particular stakeholder, such as a government agency or major employer but they don’t necessarily align with the larg-er economic development strategy,” says Professor Tzannatos.

There is no single entity charged with aligning workforce develop-ment efforts with the national eco-nomic strategy. Other issues include: the quality of the training is uneven (ranging from state-of-the-art to teaching typing on manual typewrit-

Most Qatari University Students Graduate in Traditional Areas with the High-est Numbers Found in Education and Thus Become an Input into the Educa-

tion Sector(Qatari graduates from Qatar University by gender and degree, 1989/90,

2003/4)

Degree Gender 1989/90 2003/4 Growth %Distribution

in 2004

BA in education Male 26 34 8 3

Female 217 270 53 23

Total 243 304 61 26

BA in humanities Male 45 38 –7 3

Female 92 252 160 21

Total 137 290 153 24

BS in science Male 18 31 13 3

Female 22 96 74 8

Total 40 127 87 11

BA in Sharia & law Male 25 33 8 3

Female 69 72 3 6

Total 94 105 11 9

Bachelor in engineering Male 17 26 9 2

Female - - - 0

Total 17 26 9 2

BA in economics and management

Male 13 98 85 8

Female 38 189 151 16

Total 51 287 236 24

Other* Male 11 12 1 1

Female 46 33 –13 3

Total 57 45 –12 4

Total Male 155 272 117 23

Female 484 912 428 77

Total 639 1,184 545 100

* Diplomas

Note: Recently, certain areas of engineering have been opened for women (such as computer engineering, civil engineering, chemical engineering, and industrial systems).Source: Education Background Paper

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The World Bank esti-mates that employment growth will be mainly in sectors and jobs that

Qatari workers have little preference for – mainly

in the private sector.


ers); little or no coordination among the various training programmes; links between workforce develop-ment efforts and elementary and sec-ondary education are weak; work-force development programmes overlook a number of at-risk popu-lations; and research and evaluation on workforce development is inad-equate to manage and improve the system.

another example of the lack of coordination is the proliferation of vocational qualification systems. QP is committed to using the australian TAFE credential system, the Train-ing Centre in the Ministry of Civil

Service affairs and housing is using the National Vocational Qualification (NVQ) system from great Britain, the College of the North atlantic has based its programmes on the Cana-dian Vocational Qualification System (although to serve QP it is planning to add TAFE qualifications) and the Secondary School of Industrial Tech-nology was developed on a german model with help from gTZ.

Not only can learners be forgiven for not completely understanding how relevant their qualification will be in the local (or international) mar-ketplace but an employer looking to hire a Qatari faces applicants with a

1Improving the labour market information system. This involves the collection, management and sharing

of more comprehensive, accurate, relevant and timely data on labour market, education and household charac-teristics and trends.

2Building Capacity for Labour Analysis and Manpower Planning. There is a dearth of labour analysts and

education economists who could further develop the manpower requirements simulations model and more generally integrate labour analysis in broader social and economic policy.

3Developing a National Qualifications Framework. This would introduce a common framework to the

existing education/training system and the many initia-tives underway, link it better to the needs of the labour market and increase synergies between different agencies involved in workforce development (such as the Ministry of Education, Supreme Education Council, Ministry of Civil Services Affairs and Housing in as far as it provides training and is the most important employer of Qataris so far).

Understanding better the male education deficit, the needs of the disadvantaged and the population at risk (as opposed to the current emphasis of the education system which is on those at the highest end of qualifica-tions). Addressing this education deficit will increase the employability of Qataris and substitution possibilities of non-Qataris as long as Qatari workers are prepared to undertake employment outside the public sector.

4Redefining Qatarization as a flow (instead of a stock i.e. instead of saying that x percent of employment

should be Qatari, recast this as x percent of the new hires should be Qatari).

5Establishing a National Body for Workforce Develop-ment. This body sets priorities and coordinates activi-

ties in areas including labour market policy formulation and implementation, links with education and training, Qatari employment and expatriate labour.

6Improving the System of Granting Visas to expatriate workers and utilizing better the relevant information

for labour analysis.

7Moving away from a public sector employment/benefit system to performance-based employment

accompanied by “mutual responsibility”. The former would require clear public sector development plans and the latter requires the introduction of some asset or income tests as preconditions for benefit eligibility and/or the adoption of some categorical criteria such as old age, widowhood and disability.

8Providing Guidance on Appropriate Techniques and Best Practices to support the Executive Labour

Regulations (new Labour Law) which in turn needs to be catered for by an efficient and properly equipped system of dispute resolution.

(Source: Planning Council)

Summary of Recommendations

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During 1997 to 2004, the Qatari labour force increased annually by

2,000 (1,070 men and 930 women) compared with

an annual increase of more than 20,000 expatri-

ate workers. Today the Qatari/non-Qatari ratio in the labour force is 1:8


bewildering array of credentials that are difficult to assess, says Professor Tzannatos. The World Bank suggests the development of a Qatar National Qualifications Framework.

“Certainly if countries as large as Canada and australia need a single credential system, a country the size

of Qatar would benefit from a single system of vocational qualifications,” he says.

Jobs for AllThe second main conclusion of the report is that given that the Qatari population is too small to sustain the

size of the economy generated by the energy sector, there are plenty of op-portunities for good jobs for Qataris, if they were prepared to do these jobs.

The Strategic Planning Director for the Qatar Foundation, Fahad Al Naimi, who was invited by the Plan-ning Council to manage the national labour market study project, says that Qatar now has the ability to ac-curately forecast the labour market supply and demand.

“For the first time we have the abil-ity (through a software model – ini-tially developed by the World Bank as part of the LMS project) to esti-mate broad trends of education and employment in Qatar,” he says.

however, the ability to forecast is limited by the inadequacy of avail-able data and the expertise to drive the Manpower model.

To aid this, the World Bank and Planning Council are running tech-nical workshops later this month to train officials in the use of the model and labour market issues.

While new proposed surveys will greatly assist the statistical input into the model, the report recommends the need to create a national mecha-nism for the coordination of all sta-tistical activities between producers and users of official statistics with the Statistics Department playing a more central role.

“Currently discrepancies in data exist because different sources collect

Employment Distribution (%) andValue Added per Worker (index: gov = 100), 2004

Sector All Qatari VA

Mining and quarrying 4 8 2,631

Finance/insurance/real est 4 2 308

Government services 17 68 100

Others 21 20 104

Subtotal (total GDP = 90%) 46 98 342

Trade/restaurants/hotels 15 2 64

Building and construction 27 1 30

Household services 12 0 11

Subtotal (total GDP = 10%) 54 3 35

Distribution (%) of Qatari Workers by Employment Statusand Economic Sector

Status (%) 1986 1997 2004

Employer 4 3 2

Self-employed 2 1 0

Wage earner 93 96 98

Sector (%)

Government 90 95 96

Private 10 5 4

Total (no.) 20,807 36,275 50,282

Nearly as Many Qatari Women Enter the Labor Force as Qatari Men Every Year but 10 Times More Non-Qataris Enter than Qataris (Intercensal Annual

Changes in Net Employment, 1997–2004)

Employment1997

Increase Employment2004

AnnualIncrease

Q-Men 27,573 7,546 35,119 1,078

Q-Women 8,702 6,461 15,163 923

Q-All 36,275 14,007 50,282 2,001

Non-Qatari 243,862 143,417 387,279 20,488

All 280,137 157,424 437,561 22,489

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In fact by the age of 25, for every 100

Qatari women with university qualifications there are only 46 Qatari men equally qualified.


information for difference purposes,” says al Naimi (see interview on pg 66). “There are differences in meth-ods of data collection, definitions, data coverage, time reference point, classifications, and presentations/breakdowns of the data. added to this data are stored in distinct and in-dependent databases and are rarely crosschecked in regard to compre-hensiveness and consistency.”

according to the report, if better coordinated, the Statistics unit within the Planning Council would have ac-cess to the administrative records of the Ministry of Civil Service affairs and housing, the Ministry of Interior and the Department of Labour. Cur-rent analysis is largely based on three population censuses, which only gives a partial view of the labour market situation.

The report suggests that the Minis-try of Education, Supreme Education Council, Qatar Foundation and any central training agency, should play a key role in collecting, analysing the data and making the appropriate forecasts.

Qatarization – the way ahead?When economic structures and incen-tives do not meet the development vision of a country, laws and regula-tions can change behaviour and out-comes-and Qatarization is one such policy but implemented under weak linkages between the labour market and the education system, vague guidelines, and complex administra-tive procedures.

Under the 1997 Qatarization pol-icy, Qataris should make up 20 per-cent of employment for corporations, government-owned companies, mixed firms, and private companies within three years. The policy, which does not specify any minimum size of firms to be covered, could not be implemented in every establishment; small retail outlets, for example,

could not achieve targets like this. The World Bank report notes, based on discussions with the Department of Labour officials, that the Qatariza-tion policy, by implementation, is realistically restricted to larger enter-prises and is implemented more or less on a case-by-case basis.

a great deal therefore depends on how the Department of Labour im-plements the Qatarization policy. For example, a national 20 percent Qata-rization target would limit the total size of the employed labour force to five times the size of the Qatari la-bour force. This limit would imply that many expatriates leave the coun-try as there are currently nearly eight expatriates for every Qatari worker! however, if the low-pay industries employing most expatriates are ex-cluded, the ratio for the remaining industries is 3.3 which implies that for these industries the Qatarization target has already been achieved! This shows that numerical targets are just that and what matters at the end is for Qataris to be productive and rightfully gain high pay jobs for the sake of themselves, families and country.

The report also notes that the lack of reliable data severely constrains any attempt to implement a “Qa-tarization” policy and other labour market policies. In addition, the ad-ministrative processes for issuing and following up with work permits fall under many ministries and ad hoc committees with different mandates and capacities and little coordination (from the point of view of workforce development) among them. Qata-rization is poorly understood in the private sector (where supposedly it is to have its main impact) and is pursued in the absence of clear op-erational guidelines.

“In other words, there is no clear operational strategy for Qatarization, and the involved agencies have yet to determine their mission and also their relationship to other agencies that are also involved in this policy area (from the training and education authorities to central government agencies and various committees),” says Professor Tzannatos.

Incentives and Social InsuranceThe third conclusion of the report is that labour force dynamics in Qatar are affected by another critical factor other than education and new job op-portunities: incentives. The current structure of benefits and social pro-tection discourages nationals from working in the private sector.

“The good news is that there are still many unexplored opportunities for Qataris in central administration, government enterprises and mixed-ownership companies that are only constrained by education,” says Pro-fessor Tzannatos.

“Education reforms are already un-derway. Social protection reforms can start being rationalized but this can be a long process. The international experience shows that successful re-forms require good data (still to be developed in Qatar), careful analysis

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“We also have a role in helping to facilitate the path to some of the so-lutions, but it requires the involvement and

commitment of multiple private and public sector

agencies over a mini-mum 3-year period to successfully transform the Qatar labour mar-

ket.” – Sheikh Hamad bin Jabor Al Thani


of the incidence of reforms (to protect the poorer segments of the society) and building national consensus,” he says.

The economy is expected to in-crease and diversify further with the adoption of a new developments and planned investments in the en-ergy and industry sectors as well as in tourism, infrastructure, health, and education, but the employment effect on Qataris will be small under the present structure and incentives of the labour market.

The World Bank estimates that em-ployment growth will be mainly in sectors and jobs that Qatari workers have little preference for – mainly in the private sector. Qataris are en-gaged only in high-value-added sec-tors that can pay high wages, whereas 54 percent of the total labour force are in sectors with “value added” about half or even lower than that in the government sector. Thus the realistic pool of jobs for future Qatarization does not consist of the nearly 400,000 jobs held by expatriates as it would appear at face value. Quite the con-trary: the estimates of the study sug-gest that only about 25,000 jobs in the mixed or private sectors appear to be open for substitution, assuming that Qataris and non-Qataris are techni-cally substitutable in production.

however, many Qataris are not well equipped to substitute for more qualified expatriates in rewarding jobs either in the private sector or the public sector and most Qataris do not want to work in low-skill jobs in the private sector or simply outside the public sector.

While Qatar is among the top three countries in the world in terms of per capita GDP (a flow) and gas reserves (a stock), the share of its nationals in the labour force is one of the smallest in the world and the fastest declining even among gCC countries.

During 1997 to 2004 the Qatari

labour force increased annually by 2,000 (1,070 men and 930 women) compared with an annual increase of more than 20,000 expatriate workers. Today the Qatari/non-Qatari ratio in the labour force is 1:8.

This shortage of top qualified Qataris is associated with an ex-cess of less qualified Qataris. The single more important source of employment among Qatari males has been (since 1997 – the previ-ous census) jobs in elementary oc-cupations in public administration. at the same time unemployment is hitting hardest the young and less educated.

The problems for Qatari women are less as three times as many women attend university compared to men. On average, Qatari female workers have 14.1 years of education com-pared to only 10.7 years for men. No surprise that nearly as many women enter the labour market every year as men. If these trends continue, the labour market in Qatar within one generation may not be that different from that of Sweden as far as gen-der equality is concerned in terms of employment.

So far, the “social contract in Qatar” was based on the more-or-less sole responsibility of the government to care for its citizens. Can this be the

start of moving towards a system of ‘mutual responsibility’, that is, a sys-tem where the government contin-ues supporting its citizens provided the citizens also help themselves?

“Performance-based pay and em-ployment in the public sector and payment of benefits to the needy or those who genuinely seek a job is not just good economics, it is social justice as this leads to the provision of better social services to the needy and rewards the hard working” said Professor Tzannatos.

A National Action PlanSheikh Hamad is confident that a concerted, multi-sectoral approach under the umbrella of a Labour Mar-ket Strategy National action Plan will succeed in building sustainable labour market policies to meet the future economic and social needs of Qatar. “The Planning Council will of course continue to maintain and ex-pand the knowledge we developed from compiling this study and will develop further the software model initially prepared by the World Bank as part of the LMS project,” he says.

“But, more importantly, we need to start thinking which of the study’s findings are more appropriate for Qatar, how to prioritise policies and sequence their implementation, and how the many different agencies – governmental or others – can co-or-dinate across all aspects of economic and social life including education and the broader workforce devel-opment system, employment in the public and private sectors and social protection. These are inter-sectoral national issues and nobody can suc-cessfully approach them alone.”

Interviews by Vani Saraswathi

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Interestingly, for an econ-omy built on oil and gas

currently there are six times more Qatari PhD students in education/arts than in engineering – a mere six Qatari PhD engineers will be added to a $30 billion economy

soon.

The above report was provided by the Planning Council of Qatar


WhAT is the Qatar Labour Market Strategy (LMS) National Action Plan and

why now?

|a| It is an initiative by the Planning Council aimed at developing labour market policies that will help meet the economic and social develop-ment needs of Qatar.

We tried to reflect the experience of QP where Qatarisation has been an ongoing issue, because of the ro-bust growth in the energy sector; likewise the issue of manpower plan-ning. Subsequent to this, we felt that it would be really worthwhile to ex-plore this from a country perspective – both public and private sectors. This was the main aim, plus the fact that hh the Emir, hh the heir ap-parent and HH Sheikha Mozah have been emphasising the importance of nationalisation and education. and also how to better optimise our human Resources. apart from this, we wanted to set a framework, that will integrate all these efforts, and be more cohesive. The LMS is not merely about employment – it also has other social dimensions.

So all of that revolves around the human Resources. There are other factors, but the issue of how we want to groom our high school and uni-

More than just an economic initiative

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Planning Council Secretary General Sheikh Hamad bin Jabor Al Thani on the whys, hows and what-nexts of the Labour Market Strategy


versity graduates into our workforce was important. Interestingly, our statistics show that our female work-force (Qatari) exceeds male.

There are other initiatives that will complement this. LMS is just one component of the bigger picture. For instance we are venturing into SMEs to see the appropriate frame-work we need to develop to proceed further with this. We need to develop and diversify the economy and SMEs is one of it.

|q| Why is the LMS National Ac-tion Plan important?

|a| The labour market in Qatar rep-resents an extremely important com-ponent of the overall economic and social arrangements of the country. Qatar is developing a dynamic eco-nomic strategy, which among other things, requires an efficient and ef-fective labour market.

One of the aims of this economic strategy includes creating employ-ment opportunities for Qatari na-tionals. In addressing this, Qa-tarization depends on a complex interplay between economic growth, diversification and public sector modernization.

There is a growing need for formal employment planning and custom-ized manpower models that can con-solidate the statistical information that is available. also, much of the international labour market strategy experience is not directly relevant to Qatar’s unique situation.

|q| how has the Planning Council initiated this strategy?

|a| The first phase of the Labour Market Strategy work was a study of the way the Qatar labour market currently operates and how local ca-pacity could be developed to provide expertise on labour-related issues for

the future. We involved World Bank labour policy specialists and a multi-sectoral Steering group from govern-ment and private sector agencies to assist in this work. The results of the study are documented in a 160-page report which is very revealing. The report indicates that there are many issues and opportunities for Qatar to address its labour market issues.

|q| What sort of issues was re-vealed in the study?

|a| Essentially there were four cat-egories of issues:

Labour market information – We need to improve our labour market infor-mation systems so that we can collect, manage and share more comprehen-sive, accurate, relevant and timely data on the labour market, education and households.

also, there is dearth of labour ana-lysts and education economists in Qa-tar, so we need to build this capacity in order to properly project the man-power requirements for the future and more generally integrate labour analysis into broader social and eco-nomic policy.

Education – There is a range of work that needs to be undertaken under the education umbrella including de-veloping better links between the ed-ucation sector and the labour market. One initiative would be to develop a

National Qualifications Framework that would enable learners to better understand and compare the training and education opportunities available to them, but also allow employers to provide input on the type of skills and expertise required of the training and education sector. another issue is the apparent “male education deficit” where Qatari males appear to not be achieving the educational levels re-quired to actively support the econ-omy. We need to better understand why this is happening and develop strategies to address it.

Workforce Development – We need to address the way that labour mar-ket policies are formulated and implemented while being mindful of the links these policies have with the education sector, for example, the way that expatriate labour is re-cruited and how Qatarization can be achieved.

Public Sector – Our recommenda-tions include the need for Qatar to move towards a system of perfor-mance-based employment accom-panied by “mutual responsibility”. We would need clear public sector development plans and other initia-tives to address these issues.

|q| What is the next step then for that Labour Market Strategy?

|q| The study has been completed, but we now need to fully share this with all the appropriate stakeholders from the sectors that have an inter-est or are impacted by labour market issues.

We have had a number of key agencies involved to date but we now need to move towards imple-menting the recommendations, and we’re calling this the Labour Market Strategy National action Plan.

The Planning Council is seeking the support of government and pri-vate agencies to take up this oppor-

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“Qatar cannot afford to have short-term solu-tions. What we’re ad-vocating are long-term

solutions, to benefit and support long-term

economic and social growth.”


tunity and combine efforts to build sustainable labour market policies that will meet the future needs of the people of Qatar and the dynamic re-quirements of the private and public sectors.

On 9 april 2006, we’re hosting a Labour Market Strategy Symposium, where we will officially launch the National action Plan.

This will be followed, during that week from 10 - 13 april, by a capacity building workshop, where the World Bank will train more than 60 people on the types of skills and expertise required to support the implementa-tion of a comprehensive labour mar-ket strategy for Qatar.

From then on, a number of Work-ing groups will be required to deal with the issues which have been out-lined in the report and put together comprehensive implementation plans on how the issues can be ad-dressed and more importantly how we can achieve the sustainable la-bour market policies and initiatives that are required.

|q| Is this a short-term solution?

|a| Qatar cannot afford to have short-term solutions. What we’re advocating are long-term solutions, to benefit and support long-term economic and social growth. It is true that some initiatives will take longer than others to implement, but I’m certain that Qatar society will appreciate the value in developing solutions that will provide a viable framework for sustainable economic and social development.

For example, establishing a Na-tional Qualifications Framework will require much input from many facets of society.

Based on overseas best practice, it will take more than three years to properly establish this Framework but the result will be an education

environment that will truly benefit Qatar for the long term.

We have concluded Phase I which is finalising the report’s finding. We will be conducting a workshop that will put more emphasis on implementa-tion. We have made it very practical and do-able in business terms. This is going to be an ongoing project. There will be no end to it, as such.

|q| Why is the Planning Council taking on the role of implementing this Labour Market Strategy Na-tional Action Plan?

|a| No, the Planning Council is not implementing the National ac-tion Plan. The Planning Council, in its role as a strategic policy agency, initiated the study and will assist in the facilitation of the implementation phase – the National action Plan. But various agencies, private and public, will be responsible for implementing those issues under their control or purvey.

We would no more tell the edu-cation sector how to implement their education programmes, than we would instruct agencies on the

process for recruiting expatriate la-bour. however, as a strategic policy agency, the Planning Council has a key role to play in providing strate-gic advice based on our projections of the future and our analysis of the economic and social impacts of those projections.

It is our responsibility to bring these issues and analysis to the atten-tion of the country, provide strategic advice and then, where we can, assist with the facilitation of the strategy. We should not and are not responsi-ble for their full implementation but we seek the mutual partnership and ownership of stakeholders to work together on this programme to ben-efit the country.

|q| how do you plan to reach the private sector?

|a| The approach of the Planning Council – in this or in any other project – is through consultation and effective participation from all stakeholders. The executive com-mittee who have been working on this to date, comprises people who represent the private sector, from the chamber of commerce, from the education sector, ministry of interior, civil service and labour department and so on.

|q| Does the study address the at-titudes and motivational levels of expatriate workforce too?

|a| The Planning Council is launch-ing other initiatives that are engag-ing the expats. We are due to launch the Services Improvement project, for example, which will involve get-ting feedback from clients about the services rendered by government agencies.

We do believe that expats are an important part of Qatar’s develop-ment. and will continue to be.

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“The Planning Council is seeking the support of government and private agencies to take up this opportunity and com-

bine efforts to build sus-tainable labour market policies that will meet the future needs of the

people of Qatar and the dynamic requirements

of the private and public sectors.”


IN your opinion, what criti-cal area of concern does the Labour Market Strategy report

address?

|a| This project started a year ago, and the objective was to understand the market as a system that is com-posed of different elements which interact with each other to create the reality we see.

Labour market is not just about people in jobs. It covers other do-mains like education – when we study the Qatari market, our objec-tive is to truly understand the forces that are driving this market.

The main component of the labour market are: the education system, the economic sectors and government entities that are in charge of bringing balance to this market.

Like any other market, the labour market also has supply and demand sides and in the middle are the ad-ministrative entities. The govern-ment usually tries to influence the LM, without intervening too strongly, except in the education sector so that we ensure that we have an education system that is in line with the market demand.

Second objective was to see what challenges are there in the labour

‘Public Sector has become a social safety net’Strategic Planning Director, Qatar Foundation, Fahad Mohd Al Naimi, who was invited by the Planning Council to manage the national Labour Market Study project, talks about retraining, attitudes and providing an environment of productivity.

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market. and this is extremely im-portant. Once you understand how something works, you will know where to intervene and what to do, in order to make sure this market is functioning as it should in view of the national objectives.

We analysed the education side and also the demand side and deter-mined the misalignment between the two, at various levels of education. We managed to come up with recom-mendations to realign the supply and demand of the labour market.

Now we are about to embark on the second phase where we imple-ment the formulated policies and to ensure that the challenges we are facing in the labour market are dealt with properly.

|q| What is the main problem with the education system?

|a| There was a time, when the edu-cated people were considered very special. They used to be the role mod-els. Teachers are no longer as glamor-ous as they used to be. as a child, I would find that the head of the tribe or family always had a teacher next to him.

The place he occupies symbolised the value attributed to the teaching profession in particular and educa-tion in general. It is no longer so...

|q| But that is true all over the world isn’t it?

|a| To a great extent, it is more here. Wealth has surpassed education as social value. We are more in the busi-ness of managing the impressions of others, than build our character. Instead of developing character, ev-eryone is trying to learn the tricks of managing other people’s impression without really having a substance in place it is as they say “Style over sub-stance”.

The universal values of service, development, being kind... they are almost lost. We are so attached to the social image, and spend our lives on that. But that is not sustainable.

So instead of doing a good job, you are thinking about how you can impress your boss and get a promotion!

|q| During implementation, how will you strike the balance between the public and private sectors?

|a| You can study all you want, but if you take no action, nothing will happen. The symposium in april will gather all those who are concerned with the labour market issues and show them what we have realised.

We will be forming teams, each have its own project and mandate. They will be mainly local players – from representatives of education system and government, to private sector and agencies that help Qataris become employable.

|q| Qatar’s public sector has been growing in size, while elsewhere countries are trying to make the public sector lean...

|a| This is what is happening. The public sector has been like a social safety net for the Qataris. This has

been a way to ensure that they have a means of living. Over the years, public sector has been used as a way to provide security.

But now things have changed, with the opening up of the economy. More companies are coming and they are exerting pressure on the public sec-tor. They want efficient and effective services.

Now the public sector is feeling the pressure, and is challenged to upgrade its system, which requires people who have a new set of talents and skills.

That is the major challenge we are facing now... how do we retrain our people to be in line with the new reality?

Countries like Singapore have done this. When they wanted to change to a knowledge-based econo-my, they found themselves having to retrain hundreds of thousands - and we are facing something similar.

|q| have the challenges been iden-tified in time, here in Qatar?

|a| It is definitely easier to deal with problems before they blow up into something big. It is never too late to deal with a problem, it just becomes more difficult to deal with it if you wait longer. But, we are a small coun-try. And our financial and economic situation allows the government to make any transformation that is nec-essary. Some individuals might find it difficult to meet the change, but in general there is always a way to re-connect individuals with whatever reality is taking shape.

|q| Bringing in a new workforce that is trained will be easy. But to retrain those who have been part of the system for years...to tell people that they are redundant in the pres-ent function and you need to be re-trained...

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“Once you understand how something works, you will know where to intervene and what to

do, in order to make sure this market is function-ing as it should in view

of the national objectives.”


|a| It is no easy task whether here or anywhere else, people don’t like to change. That entails a lot of re-ad-justing. We as human beings are part of so many systems, and to change, there are so many linkages – with family, friends, jobs, skills that need to be managed in a new way. It is not easy, but necessary. Many cannot en-dure the pain of change.

Now we are telling all of those peo-ple, you have to change, learn these new skills. Some people are ashamed of re-training as they consider that as an indication of something wrong with them. It is a wrong perception. and we need to change that too.

Re-training is not about educating the ignorant, but an opportunity to keep up with the changes in reality which is the normal way of being in this life.

|q| Which is more challenging: ad-dressing the needs of the national workforce or that of the expatri-ates?

|a| The former is going to be more challenging. For historical reasons.

For one, the language – English is the dominant language of the labour market, and this is a problem. Qa-taris have traditionally been going to the Qatari schools, where they study in arabic. Of course, they learn Eng-lish, but not well enough to become fluent, and be able to think and com-municate in this language.

another reason can be attributed to the unfortunate fact that our kids have been sort of protected from reality, they have been provided a comfortable living, and this does not motivate kids to develop skills to get ahead, because they already have what they want.

So they are not as motivated as the expatriates who come from challeng-ing environments. Their parents are in most cases highly educated. all

this makes expatriates more ready for the labour market, than their Qa-tari counterparts.

On the face of it, the affluence probably looks good. But in essence, if you don’t have stimulating envi-ronment that brings the best out of you, you will not enjoy your life. Psy-chologists tell us that it is unhealthy and not very exciting to go through life without utilising and mobilising all of your talents.

at the material level our kids are secured, but that is really not in their interest as this will negatively impact them in the long run.

When there is a balance between the challenges you face and the tal-ents you have, then you will be in a happy state of flow. Everyday is an exciting day.

If challenges far outweigh your talents then you will be stressed; and with the opposite you will be bored. This materially rich environment makes people less alert.

|q| Labour market issues in a coun-try like this are particularly unique, given the mix of nationalities. Are you addressing commitment levels of the expatriate workforce too?

|a| This is an extremely important

point. This should be the responsi-bility of various entities that employ both Qataris and non-Qataris. Before we go and ask the individual why he is not committed enough, we need to question if the right climate has been created. Context or climate influenc-es behaviour. When you have a good leader, people want to give their best. It he does not lead well, then people cannot be loyal.

Culture in most organisations is not conducive for people to bring out their best.

|q| Is this being addressed in any way in the report?

|a| We are looking at the climate, at-titudes – but we are not going deep into it. The study is very compre-hensive, and we have identified that there is a need to do specialised stud-ies on organisational culture.

|q| how do you plan to assess the implementation?

|a| We have identified the major issues. We have turned those issues into projects – each of which will have an implementation plan. and in context of these plans, you need to have deliverables, indications that you are on the right track. Evaluation of performance will be reported ev-ery three months.

|q| reported to whom?

|a| To the higher authorities. Some-thing that will be clearer as we go along... But the reporting will be at two levels. First is to those who are in-charge of the particular domain of activities. at the higher level, we will be reporting to the higher authority on the progress made.

There will be a mechanism to en-sure things are going in the right direction.

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“The public sector has been like a social safety net for the Qataris. This

has been a way to ensure that they have a means of living... used as a way to

provide security. But now things have

changed, with the open-ing up of the economy.”


WhAT IS the involvement of the World Bank in the region?

|a| The World Bank has extensive involvement assisting governments in the Middle East and North africa (MENa) region in many areas. It has an intensive programme of techni-cal cooperation in all gCC countries that ranges from broad economic and monetary issues to others such as public sector reforms, private sec-tor development, investment climate assessments, public-private partner-ships, financial deregulation, mod-ernization of the stock-exchange, business registration processes, competition law, insurance sector reform, procurement, consump-tion subsidies, education policies, pensions and so on. In the area of workforce development and social protection (including education and labour markets) I am aware of previ-ous work of the World Bank in vari-ous related activities in practically all gCC countries.

|q| how many of the Bank’s activi-ties are in the implementation stage and what is in progress?

|a| I do not have the figures readily available, but in early 2000s, when I

‘Healthy competition, not isolationist policies’Professor Zafiris Tzannatos, Beirut-based Advisor to the World Bank, and lead author of the Qatar Labour Market Strategy report, on devel-oping the workforce to meet global competition.

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left the position of Manager of social protection in the Middle East and North africa (MENa) of the World Bank, we had almost 50 active proj-ects in the area of human develop-ment totalling more than $2 billion. at that time, there were also more than 50 reports underway or planned in the area of social protection alone (including labour markets, social as-sistance and pensions). More gener-ally, the World Bank in the leading multilateral agency in development issues across the world.

|q| how did the World Bank get involved in labour issues in Qatar?

|a| The World Bank was invited by the Planning Council to assist in ana-lysing the labour situation in Qatar and provide insights from the inter-national experience. We assembled a team of renowned international experts from all parts of the world (americans, arabs, Europeans and Australians) with significant experi-ence in labour administration, poli-cies and research. Our team collabo-rated and was also supported by an equally strong team of experts at the Planning Council.

Our objective was to provide poli-cy relevant to Qatar and specific rec-ommendations that would address Qatar’s labour problems in view of its emerging developmental objec-tives consisting of creating a more efficient government sector, diversi-

fying the economy through greater involvement of the private sector and increasing the Qatarization of the labour force.

These three pillars constitute vi-sionary directions for Qatar’s future and, if successfully followed, they would put Qatar ahead of the curve. In the era of globalisation, what mat-ters is not just to do well (as Qatar is currently doing in a number of eco-nomic and social areas) but to do bet-ter than others.

Nobody is immune from competi-tion and moving faster (not just fast) is often a precondition for a country to capitalise on opportunities that will not be available for long. Now it is the time for a new approach to la-bour issues in Qatar as it is much eas-ier to reform in a period of economic prosperity than during an economic recession.

In this respect Qatar is a visionary as most countries usually engage in labour reforms only after a crisis. Some countries in Europe provide

(even this very day, as we speak) prime examples of delayed reforms that can create opposition to them.

|q| What are the major issues (la-bour) facing the region in general and Qatar in particular?

|a| Though the region has some common characteristics, Qatar is fortunate to be among the top three countries in the world (not just the region) in terms of per capita in-comes and also gas reserves. It has also put less emphasis on direct la-bour market interventions (such as wage subsidies or unrealistic nation-alization/Qatarization targets) and is more concerned – rightly – with the root of the problem: are the Qa-taris qualified and motivated to work in high pay but more demanding jobs? Our analysis suggests that the education sector is thriving in Qatar and, with the right use of expatriate labour; the Qataris should be able to get high wages and avoid unem-ployment for many years to come. It all comes down to answering (cor-rectly) three questions. First, where will new jobs for Qataris come from? (and the World Bank report already provided a model for utilizing in-formation of employment trends to identify labour shortages – and this model is currently being updated by the Planning Council).

Second, will the Qataris be able to take advantage of these new jobs? (and the report provides some spe-cific insights for this, including an analysis of the “male education defi-cit” in Qatar and the development of a national qualification framework to be used for the creation of a lifelong learning and training system).

Third, will new employment op-portunities be acceptable to Qatari job seekers, if current policies for hiring and setting work and pay conditions in the public sector pre-

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There Is a Serious Education Deficit Among Qatari Men (ratio of men to women age 25 by educational qualification)

Primary 225%

Intermediate 183%

Secondary 92%

PU 74%

University 46%

Source: Dept of Statistics, 2004 Census results

“This can be also good for other gCC economies which can learn from the

Qatari way and adopt whatever good innova-tion is introduced here.”


vail? (again, the report examines the issue of work incentives and the role of the welfare state in securing social protection of all citizens with-out adversely affecting work incen-tives).

|q| What kind of monitor-ing will the WB do, during the implementation?

|a| We will be glad to support the Planning Council and more broadly all Qataris as needed in the future. There are many areas in which we can continue to provide support but others that we should not or cannot. For example, the Bank can expand the analytical work already under-taken using Census data which al-ready provided so many diagnostic insights that can now be improved and updated when more and better data become available.

The Bank can also contribute to ca-pacity building in the Planning Coun-cil and other agencies (including the education and labour authorities). It can also assist in the formulation of future actions and plans both within the Planning Council and at national level.

however, there are things that, even if the Bank can do, they should be done first by the Qataris. It is for the Qataris to now decide what they want to do and by when.

Sheikh hamad bin Jabor bin Jassim al Thani, Secretary general, Planning Council has already created working groups in the Council and is work-ing with his colleagues in other parts of Government to define the national priorities and a plan of action. This is as visionary as necessary. Then, as things develop, the Bank can help as needed and when invited.

|q| Since the report is going to deal with sensitive issues of nation-alisation, privatisation and increas-

ing productivity, do you foresee any problems in implementation?

|a| I would have seen a problem, if it was the report that advocated privatisation or hard measures to increase productivity. This is not the case.

First, as I mentioned earlier, the report adopts the policy directions already present in Qatar. Moreover, I understand privatisation is happen-ing carefully and gradually. Both are promising signs that reforms will not hurt and this is happening any way at a time of economic boom. Second, the report does not recommend in-creases in productivity by retrench-ing workers or inflicting income hardship to those affected.

What the analysis of our report suggests is that there are enough jobs (currently held by expatriates) than can be used as a cushion for Qatari employment (provided this is preceded by good education and training policies) and also that a new social protection system should be developed to take care of the unde-servedly poor or unemployed or those affected by reforms.

|q| Are the results and follow-up going to affect WB and WB-related projects in the country?

|a| I hope they will and in a posi-

tive way so that our cooperation continues.

The Labour Market Strategy (LMS) project benefited from excellent co-operation between the Planning Council (PC) team and the World Bank team and the visionary guid-ance of the Sheikh hamad, Secretary general, Planning Council. Our en-gagement in Qatar was a great learn-ing experience for us and I hope the Qataris also extracted something useful form the World Bank. I also hope the existing relationship will grow further and mature in the fu-ture, and that Qatar could become a good example of how to apply good labour policies in an amicable way (which is a rarity in the international experience, compared to conflictual labour relations).

This can be also good for other gCC economies which can learn from the Qatari way and adopt whatever good innovation is intro-duced here.

In return, Qatar may also benefit from the experiences of its neigh-bours. Something we know now more than ever before (thanks also to the WTO Doha round!) is that eco-nomic development be best be based on cooperation and healthy compe-tition, not inward looking and isola-tionist policies.

This and the tendency towards regionalism (from the EU in Europe to NAFTA in America, and from aSEaN in asia to MERCOSUR in Latin america) leaves no room for complacency in the gCC countries.

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Share of Nationals in the GCC LF (1985=100)

“In the era of globalization what

matters is not just to do well (as Qatar is

currently doing in a number of economic and

social areas) but to do better than others”


WhAT kind of involve-ment does SEC have in this whole project, and

what have been the challenges?

|a|This organisation (SEC) is chaired by hh Sheikh Tamim, and the vice-chair is HH Sheikha Mozah.

and there is a very real concern here within SEC on education’s re-

lationship with the labour market. We were doing certain things – creat-ing independent schools, the higher education institute...

There was a clear need to bring together in a clearly articulated way education and the labour market. Be-cause you can’t have one without the other.

I got involved not at inception, but

at a fairly critical stage. I have a lot of experience in labour market, particu-larly in relationship with education. and secondly I had an immediate past with the Learning and Schools council in England (a £9 billion a year operations) and thirdly, I was working here.

I came from all of those different perspectives.

This is such an interesting project and so far-reaching for Qatar. It has such potential to assist with the cre-ation of Qatar, which has a radically changing future. It has established the securities market, you have Qa-tar airways, which is the fastest growing airline in the world...

It is Energy that is driving the national economy and it is always going to be so... but the other devel-opments will require very, very dif-ferent sorts of people. and there are only two ways of getting the labour – you either import it or grow it.

Now we know from the LMS re-port that there is no way Qatar will be able to do the latter, because there just aren’t enough Qataris.

So we have a couple of potential things. The first is to make sure that all Qataris that leave school and uni-versity have the skills and qualifica-tions necessary to fit themselves into a changing labour market. Because other gulf States create lots of jobs in the public sector to disguise un-employment. Qatar has made a very conscious decision to not do this.

‘There are no jobs for life’Supreme Education Council, Evaluation Institute, Director (Office of Research) Richard Watkins gives his views on changing careers and getting away from the ‘job for life’ mentality, and how LMS will help Qataris broaden their horizons in terms of choice of careers.

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On the one hand we have to make sure that the young Qataris, and the Qataris already in the labour force, have the skills, experience and train-ing, first to get the jobs, and second, as the nature of the work changes, they can make the transition – I think many places have been char-acterised with ‘job for life’ theory – if you become a teacher, you re-main a teacher for life. This doesn’t happen.

|q|how do you work on building a qualified workforce?

|a|We have to make sure that we have Qataris who both feed the de-mand, and adapt and change as the industry changes. Similarly, we need to make sure that when Qatar is im-porting labour, we have identified the right sort of labour that matches the skills that are in demand.

You need to align your strategic im-migration (and other) policies with your labour market policy. It is also important for young Qataris leaving school and university to know where their employment opportunities are. What’s the point of doing X if there is no demand for X.

You don’t have to do a one-to-one matching, but you can give advice. and the labour market study has been thorough, and the results have been well-founded.

We know that as many engineers as we can produce, the Energy in-dustry can take them, infrastruc-ture sector can take them... there is a shortage of thousands of engineers annually in Qatar.

We are able to give better advice to people as a result of the LMS.

The other important thing is to re-duce the amount of churning. What’s the point of Qatari employers con-stantly bringing in thousands of new workers to do projects, having let the previous thousands go, after having

invested in their training. Immediately after you get rid of

skilled and experience people, your productivity takes a nosedive. Even if you recruit thousands and thousands of people, unless they’ve got the im-mediate skills you need, whether it’s construction or anything else, there will be a dip in productivity.

We are looking at helping indus-tries make more consistent attempt in managing their workforces. What this points to is the importance of human Capital investment.

You can have the world’s best systems and machinery, but if don’t have the skilled people to run it, to get optimum output, what is the point?

|q| Is the Qatari workforce, in par-ticular, prepared for the implemen-tation of LMS. Is there a tendency to take jobs for granted?

|a| It is tied up very much with the acceptance that we will not have jobs for life. Qatar is building a $5 billion airport that will rival anything in the world. Now, managing an airport and all of the complexities, you need

people with complex skills – and if you haven’t got them, you have to either import them or provide edu-cation and training for your people.

People will, as they do in other parts of the world, move within in-dustries. I met someone from QP who has been on the rigs in the wa-ter and on the land. and he is a man-ager. and he was able to make that transition between two very differ-ent job skills. You need people who will be able to do that from oil to gas for instance.

You need people who can transit across industries, relatively pain-lessly. They might need retraining or take up a few courses. It might not always be a promotion, but a parallel move that provides a higher level of job satisfaction.

It is almost an outmoded idea – the guarantee of a job for life. Virtually no country has it anymore. Because there is so much uncertainty and change.

We need to move people sideways into more challenging and fruitful careers.

|q| That brings us to the other big problem – job satisfaction across sectors and nationalities...

|a| There is an issue about edu-cating people about education. In a sense that Zafiris points out in his LMS report – Qatar is enormously fortunate. Small population, high net per capita income. In the MENa region alone, the prediction is they need a 100 million new jobs just to soak up the population growth.

Qatar has the reverse – it is pro-ducing jobs faster than the number of people. We are producing 20,000 jobs a year, and 2,000 Qataris!

So they have a great choice of jobs, if that’s what they want. There is a need to introduce Qataris to more modern concepts – it is not a criti-

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“What’s the point of Qa-tari employers constantly bringing in thousands of new workers to do proj-ects, having let the previ-ous thousands go, after having invested in their

training. Immediately af-ter you get rid of skilled and experience people

your productivity takes a nosedive.”


cism that they are old-fashioned. It is just that they will find job and personal satisfaction and creativity in different ways, than they had pre-viously.

The radical changes which are go-ing to take place in Qatari society of-fer enormous opportunities for Qa-tari people.

What we have to do is tell them – ‘look there is an exciting range of jobs, and you need to broaden your horizons. Don’t just think about do-ing x,y,z jobs... there are exciting, challenging career opportunities’.

People are mismatched in their jobs. They don’t like it because they don’t like it! We’ve got to get people to change their approach.

|q| So, people need to take risks?

|a| Well, we need to give people the capacity to manage their risks. We must ensure that people are not risk-averse. They only ever do the safe thing. You take account of the circumstances you find your-self in and ask if it would be a good decision.

It is not a bad thing to not have a job for life. If you are skilled and adaptable and flexible... that’s what employers want.

They are not worried about techni-cal skills. They are worried about lit-eracy, numeracy, the ability to work together, to communicate. That’s what they want, and if you have those, then the likelihood is that you can move between roles far more easily, than if you had only technical skills.

So don’t just confine yourself to thinking about public sector, there are other options.

|q| Is that why the public sector is getting heavier here?

|a| No, I think that reflects a gen-

uine need – it is probably arguable as I haven’t been here long enough. But the public service needs was pretty minimal earlier. The issue is, do people feel they are better served because of the size? If yes, then it is justified.

In the last few years Supreme Councils for education, environ-ment, technology etc have been set up. But they were in response to specific needs, and those are areas that the private sector will not take up. The government has a legitimate role to step in and help.

It is not creating bureaucracy for the sake of it.

They are very conscious not just to pad out the bureaucracy, in a way that would be unsustainable.

They are going to bring in 100,000 workers in the next two years. and if you don’t expand your immigration and labour department to cope with this additional number, you are go-ing to have problems.

If you are a major construction company, and you can’t get off a major project because you can’t get you workers into the country, then you’ve got a major problem.

So if a bigger labour or immigra-tion department helps in quickening the immigration process, then the

numbers are justified.

|q| how are you going to localise the results for SEC?

|a| One of the issues for SEC is the disturbing trend for young Qatari males to exit school early and with-out qualifications. It is a trend world-wide that men tend not to complete school.

It is a worry in Qatar, because you have huge burgeoning labour mar-ket. and if you leave school early without qualification, you will be disqualified from the labour market. This is a worry.

We need to be looking closely at what the root causes are for young Qataris becoming disaffected with schooling.

We need to understand the back-ground to that, and put corrective measures if required. Maybe change the nature of schooling.

also what young Qatari males don’t get is Qatari male role models. almost all those training to be teach-ers at the University are female.

We don’t know if that is a cause too, but we need to get people to seek new careers. and remove gen-der segregation in careers.

The other issue is that we need to be telling young Qataris, whom we sponsor to go abroad and study, these are the shortage areas.

If we are going to sink $60,000 a year or more, for four or more years, we’ve got to be reasonably sure that when you come back to Qatar you will find a job that matches your skill. There has to be a return on in-vestment – both public and private good.

So coming back to scholarships, it is going be made clear that the world doesn’t owe anyone a living. and you need to respect the assistance you receive and put something back into the country n

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‘On the one hand, we have to make sure that the young Qataris, and the Qataris already in the labour force, have the skills, experience

and training, first to get the jobs, and second, as the nature of the work

changes, they can make the transition.’

lms study for qt cover

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