By Ramesh Mathew
Staff Reporter
Many employers are benefiting from two key trends that have become common in Qatar and across the region of late - the willingness of many fresh talents to work for low salaries and the growing popularity of outsourcing, according to industry observers.
The availability of personnel for diverse operations has shot up significantly in the last three-six months across the Gulf and a number of employers have been able to get fresh hands at lower salaries, say sources.
It has been learnt from some companies that they are going slow on fresh recruitment due to recent developments in the region, which have contributed to a certain degree of
uncertainty in their operations.
Some of those who have continued to hire want to keep costs under check and it helps if a young job-seeker is willing to work for a relatively low pay, the sources point out.
“While experience and regional familiarity continue to be the main criteria, some of us also keep in mind aspects such as reducing costs during a fresh appointment nowadays,” said an engineer whose firm undertakes sub-contracts for infrastructure projects in the country.
Meanwhile, as outsourcing becomes more popular across the service sector in the country and the region, employers are said to be benefiting greatly as costs come down in the process. For instance, a manager at a firm said outsourcing certain services has not only reduced their hiring costs, but also helped meet the work requirements more efficiently.
Indirectly, sometimes employers also benefit when they don’t get a visa for a new recruit of their choice due to his/her nationality and have to opt for an employee from another country. In such cases, they often have to hire people on short notice as they have to meet deadlines. This allows them to hire at a lower salary than what they had originally planned, the sources explain.
One of the sectors where new openings are growing fast is hospitality management, it is learnt. While qualified professionals at higher levels continue to draw attractive salaries, fresh recruits, it seems, are not always happy with what they are getting.
The sources, meanwhile, point out that fresh recruits continue to be taken at existing salary levels - or sometimes higher - in sectors such as automobile, food and retail.