BY AZMAT HAROON
DOHA: Private sector workers in the country can expect an average 5.1 percent pay rise next year, says a Dubai-based global management consultancy firm which conducts an annual salary survey here.
The Hay Group said its forecast is based on extensive analyses of salary data of 54,000 employees in Qatar from 128 organisations and 13 key industries mainly in the private sector.
The salary premium, which last year was at 16 percent, was largely provided to compensate for the high cost of living. However, with the recent mandated rise in pay levels for Qataris, the gap between Qatar and other GCC states has increased further to over 25 percent, the study shows. The large pay premium had an impact only on Qatari nationals who comprise just 16 percent of the overall sample, Hay Group consultant Harish Bhatia, said during the group’s annual seminar yesterday.
“Between 2008 and 2012 the pay premium for nationals saw a rise from 28 percent in 2008 to 154 percent this year. This increase in the pay gap has historically been driven by the banking and oil and gas industries where most nationals are employed but with a 60 percent pay rise in the public sector last year the premium has grown substantially,” Bhatia said.
Qatar’s economic indicators are conducive to a stable environment. The economic growth rate has slowed down from 14 percent last year to 6.5 percent this year, but still remains one of the highest in the region, says Hay Group. “Inflation is also stable at 1.4 percent.” The report says major challenges facing the job nationalisation drive in the private sector are that there is a shortage of skilled citizens and employers are unable to offer higher pay packages to attract nationals.
Over 75 percent of private sector organisations in the country have indicated their inability to match pay expectations as the key reason for not being able to attract Qatari citizens, while 68 percent of organisations indicated a shortage of skilled talent as the reason they cannot reach their nationalisation targets.
While the oil and gas industry and banking sectors continue to be the preferred employers of experienced nationals, the nationalisation policy remains a challenge for other private sector organisations in the retail, fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG), hospitality and engineering sectors. “Nationalisation is, and will continue to be, hindered by a shortage of skilled Qatari nationals. The best and brightest are still going to the oil and gas industry,” Bhatia said. The Qatari government, however, understands the issues facing the private sector and is taking a long term view of developing workforce by investing heavily in education so as to ensure bottom up investment in Qatar’s future, Bhatia added.
Hay Group’s research in the past three years showed that salaries in Qatar have consistently been amongst the highest in the GCC.The Peninsula
