Doha: Apart from helping in building a robust infrastructure, the construction sector has also emerged as the biggest job creator in Qatar. The construction sector has attracted the highest number of the expatriate workforce last year.
The construction sector absorbed the bulk of imported labour, employing about 44.2 percent of the total expatriate workforce in 2019, according to a report of the Planning and Statistics Authority.
Qatar’s population at the end of 2019 reached about 2.8 million, of which the number of workforce in the country was about 2.1 million. The expatriate workforce accounts for about 94.9 percent of the total workforce, as per the Planning and Statistics Authority figures.
The rapid growth in Qatar’s economy in the past few years has created job opportunities for thousands of semi-skilled and skilled workers.
The construction sector is playing a significant role in powering Qatar’s economy. In the run-up to FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, Qatari cities have undergone a massive change. With massive investment to build airport, road network, Doha Metro, Qatar now has world-class infrastructure. The demand for expatriate workers remained linked to the performance of a specific sector.
Increased activity and heavy investment made the construction sector the largest job creator in the country. Other sectors such as real estate, hotels, wholesale and retail trade and manufacturing have played their part in job creation.
According to the Planning and Statistics Authority, the wholesale and retail trade sectors employed 12.6 percent workforce while real estate and hotels and other accommodation absorbed 8.8 percent of the workforce. The household service sector employed 8.7 percent workforce while manufacturing absorbed 7.6 percent workforce.
Public services including education and health absorbed five percent of the workforce.
According to the results of the 2019 labour force survey, skilled and highly skilled workers are well represented in the labour market. The number of skilled and highly skilled workers reached 609,900 workers, which is around 30.5 percent of total expatriate workers.
In coming years, the development projects that are being implemented during the current period and planned for the future, it is expected that the need for the unskilled and semi-skilled workforce will continue to grow.
In addition to the less-skilled workforce, given that the Qatari economy is currently moving along a trajectory with the goal of having a digital economy based on knowledge, in particular with the current enactment of the country’s strategy to enhance the role of research, development, and innovation activities, it can be expected that the highly skilled imported workforce will enlarge and flourish over the next decade, noted the report.