Doha: The demand for skilled local talent has surged in Qatar as companies have begun to ramp up their operations, following easing of restrictions imposed to limit the spread of COVID-19.
The main reason behind companies scouting for local hire is travel restrictions placed by countries across the globe that has obstructed the flow of manpower to Qatar.
“We are looking for qualified specialised sales official for our IT products and services. We are unable to hire candidates from other countries currently due to travel restrictions, so we are looking to hire candidates from local market. The need for workforce is urgent and we cannot wait further for easing of travel restrictions,” a senior official of human resource department of Information Technology (IT) company told The Peninsula.
“We cannot delay our hiring process because of travel restrictions. For us, it is better to hire from local market than waiting for easing of travel restrictions,” he added.
The sectors which are witnessing hiring spree are IT, hospitality, food and beverages, retail, and health. Retail outlets, restaurants and hotels, malls and hypermarkets have started expanding their operations as demand has begun to pick up due to easing of COVID-19 restrictions. This has led to increase in demand for workforce in the country.
“Going by the progress in limiting the spread COVID-19, we are expecting the normalcy in economy to return after the third week of this month. We have already seen an increase in number of guests coming to our restaurant. We are looking for many candidates for several, positions, including pastry chefs and baristas. We want to create additional capacity in advance so that whenever we see increase in demand, we should be ready to meet it,” senior official of a fine dining restaurant told The Peninsula.
Economic activity in Qatar has increased in the last one month as companies are gearing up to resume full operation from the last week of this month. The First Phase of Phase-4 of restrictions, put in place to limit COVID-19, has already started which has allowed 80 percent of the workforce to return to workplaces.
With the easing of restrictions, malls, restaurants, beauty parlours, hotels and retail outlets have already seen increase in demand from customers. The Supreme Committee for Crisis Management had earlier announced that the second phase of the Phase-4 of easing of restrictions would commence at the beginning of the third week of September.
