By Ramesh Mathew/Staff Reporter

 The continuing traffic woes in Doha are apparently forcing sales personnel to quit their jobs and look for work that does not involve extensive travel within the city, it is learnt.

While traffic congestion increases their travel time, finding suitable parking space is another major worry for these workers - often described as salesmen-cum-drivers. As a result, they either miss appointments or fail to meet business deadlines, they point out.

Gulf Times has learnt from people engaged in sales jobs that some companies, especially those in the retail sector, are reportedly losing employees who are quitting - mostly out of frustration over reaching targets.

“The situation that we have been facing for more than two years now is mostly arising out of perennial traffic congestion on the city’s roads. Along with this, the problem of parking is also worsening here with each passing day,” said a sales supervisor of a company supplying diaries, gifts, office stationery and other goods.

He said owing to traffic jams in the city, starting from early in the morning, people like him are sometimes unable to meet deadlines and even miss meetings with regular customers.

The situation has worsened, say sources in the retail industry. A supplier of car accessories said their company has lost some key personnel in recent months and each of them has complained about traffic- and parking-related issues while quitting. Keen to avoid sales work that involves a lot of travel, some of them are said to be looking for other kinds of jobs.

A senior sales employee of a company that supplies construction materials to contracting firms said he is sometimes forced to return to his office without meeting customers after failing to find parking space in different city areas.

The employee said he leaves home at least two hours before schedule most of the days due to the possibility of getting caught in traffic jams at different locations.

He recalled that it took him more than 45 minutes to go from the Al Andalus signal to Al Sadd recently, a distance that he used to cover in less than 10 minutes not so long ago.

“If one is unable to attend our scheduled business meetings and meet deadlines, there is every possibility of losing customers in this highly competitive market,” said a person who had once served as a salesman of a German shoe manufacturer.

There has been a drastic rise in the number of vehicles in Doha over the last few years and sales personnel often find it difficult to perform their jobs under the present circumstances, the long-time resident said. “Everywhere, there are long traffic queues and one also faces a lot of difficulty in getting parking space,” he added. The search for parking space in key localities can take very long, it is understood.

Another cause for concern is that salesmen often have to park their vehicles far from their destination and are forced to walk under the burning sun, according to sources.

Some companies this newspaper contacted said they were at times forced to deploy two salesmen-cum-drivers for a particular job due to severe parking problems in some city areas. “While one salesman deals with customers outside, the other can remain in the driver’s seat,” said a supplier of foodstuff.