With its fast economic growth over the past decades, Qatar has been attracting millions of people from around the world, looking for professional and business opportunities in the country. The expatriate population have actively contributed to the country’s growth over the years along with Qatari nationals.
The government is also pursuing to diversify the economy and increase the share of the services, tourism and other sectors to the national GDP.
The government has also been working to encourage and increase the number of Qatari nationals in the private sector, and several institutions have launched the ‘Qatarisation’ drive, to employ more citizens in their ranks.
The Cabinet yesterday approved a draft law on nationalising jobs in the private sector. It also approved a draft Cabinet decision regarding the incentives, facilities and privileges granted for nationalisation of jobs in the private sector. The draft Cabinet decision will determine the nationalised jobs in each sector, in light of the nationalisation plans for various sectors. The Cabinet will also determine, as proposed by the Minister of Labour, incentives for the entities to achieve nationalisation goals, as well as the financial incentives for Qatari workers in those entities.
With the government’s efforts to provide jobs and financial security to all citizens, the number of Qataris in the country’s workforce has increased. In 2022, as many as 7,127 jobs were created for Qatari citizens across Qatar’s public and private sectors. According to 2022 Recruitment Statistics released by the Ministry of Labour and Civil Service and Government Development Bureau, the public sector created the most job opportunities over the past year with over 5,000 citizens hired. New positions were predominately filled by women who made up 69% of new hires. The private sector hired 1,850 Qatari citizens last year.
Human development, one of the most important pillars of Qatar National Vision 2030, envisages high quality training opportunities for all citizens that correspond to their ambitions and abilities, and providing training programmes that address the needs of the current and future needs of the market.
The National Employment Platform, Kawader, has been key in achieving government’s plans to facilitate the employment of Qataris looking for work. The platform allows Qatari employees to search for new roles through the portal. The government has also helped job seekers acquire essential skills for future employment, enabling job seekers to apply for a maximum of five jobs at once to ensure greater engagement.
