India's growth causing staff shortage in GCC

Economic growth in India is making it much harder for companies in the GCC to source skilled labour from the subcontinent, the chairman of Dubai-based healthcare conglomerate Dr Moopen's Group said on Tuesday.

Speaking on the eve of of India's independence celebrations, Azad Moopen warned that the problem would only get worse in the future as India's economy continues to expand.

"We are finding it difficult to get people from India," Moopen told ArabianBusiness.com. "In the long-term this is only going to get harder."

He said Dr Moopen's Group was finding it especially difficult recruiting staff because there is such a heavy reliance on highly skilled workers in the healthcare industry.

"’I've found it extremely difficult. We require highly skilled people, and because the salaries here are now comparable to what you could get in India [it is becoming a problem]," he said.

The GCC is facing a potentially serious problem in recruiting skilled workers from India because of the plummeting value of the dollar against the rupee and India's booming economy.

There are approximately six million Indians living in the GCC and they account for as much as 50% of the expatriate workforce in some Gulf countries.

The growing value of the rupee against the dollar, which most countries in the GCC have their currencies pegged to, is making the Gulf a less attractive destination for Indians to work.

India's booming economy means there are many more jobs available that previously, which is also deterring Indian's from working in the region.

Last month a senior official at Bahrain's Labour Fund revealed that it had seen a marked rise in the number of Indians leaving the kingdom to return home.

Bahrain is currently struggling with a shortage of accountants and the government is also assessing the severity of skills shortages in other sectors such as information technology.

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READERS' COMMENTS

SHORTAGE OF STAFF FROM INDIA
Posted by MOHAMMED AMINUL ALAM, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on Monday 20 August 2007 at 09:00 UAE time

The article on shortage of staff from India is quite an eye opener for all the prospective employers in the Gulf. I am just back from vacation and have witnessed the positive frame of mind of all the young employees across the sector in terms of their enterprising attitude. The IT and BPO industry has given a fillip to growth in terms of employment. Looking at this I would not be surprised to find a reverse flow of middle level employees from the Gulf back to India. If Gulf based companies want to retain, they need to respect Indian manpower and pay them as per market rate without racial i.e. passport discrimination.

SHORTAGE OF STAFF FROM INDIA
Posted by Buddhadeb Mookerjee, Dubai, UAE on Sunday 19 August 2007 at 16:00 UAE time

For quite a few years when Indian economy was languishing at early stages of development, it has been a source of trained manpower for the GCC countries. This has benefited both parties immensely. While the Indian economy gained through remittances of hard currency by the large Indian work force in the region, the GCC region had access to the trained and cost effective manpower from India. This was a win win situation. Of late not only has Indian economy started to grow at a phenomenal rate thus creating large number of excellent job opportunities within the country, the world community has started to recognise the quality of Indian professionals and are prepared to pay them handsomely. The GCC countries should realise that well trained Indian workers and professionals are still available but at a higher price. Even then they remain good value for money.

Very poor wages - no minimum salaries
Posted by mikel cruz, abu dhabi, uae on Thursday 16 August 2007 at 08:00 UAE time

The UAE is rich "by nature", but whether you like it or not expat workers are part of growth of the country. The government should do something with a minimum wage, as far as I understand it, the UAE has a very poor labour law and record. The authorities should do something to help the workforce of any and all kinds, and help at least meet the rapidly increasing basic needs for each one of us.

Staff shortages
Posted by Rodger Clarke, Dubai, UAE on Wednesday 15 August 2007 at 15:00 UAE time


The rapidly increasing cost of living is another factor, combined with the above, that is pushing up salary demands. Employers need to come to terms with this new reality quickly and factor it into their budgeting and job costing models. They may also need to look at alternative sources of labour - for decades it has been cheap and easy to source skilled labour from the subcontinent but this is increasingly no longer the case.

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