The right talent

zoom

(Sergio Dionisio/Getty Images)

Hugo Berger talks with with recruitment professionals to assess the situation.

As the GCC steps up its bid to be the world leader in scale and speed of construction, the challenge to find sufficient and suitably trained personnel becomes more acute.

There are only a finite number of skilled professionals in the world, and only a percentage of these would consider moving to the region.

So inevitably firms have to offer greater wages as an incentive to lure them to the region.

Recent statistics reveal that in Dubai, the average wage of a higher level construction worker rose about 30% last year - more than three times the national rate of inflation.

And despite these vast salaries, many companies complain of severe labour shortages.

However, recruitment companies in Dubai say with careful planning and research, the deficit can be avoided.

One of the companies which is taking the initiative in dealing with labour shortages is Duneden, a recruitment company which specialises in construction and engineering.

According to Gregor Black, managing director of the company, it was the urgency of finishing jobs on time which was causing the huge hike in wages.

He says three years ago a project manager with eight to 10 years experience was earning US $9,500 (AED35,000) a month; whereas now they're getting almost $15,000.

He said senior development managers were looking at a rise from about $16,000 to more than $27,000.

And Simon Hobart, managing director, Millennium Solutions, says he had heard of cases of senior project managers getting rises from $15,000 to $23,000 a month.

Black says the huge increases were having an effect on Dubai's real estate sector as a whole.

"That has to come out of the pot and it will come out of the end product. This is one of the reasons why property prices are going through the roof," he says.

"It's just desperation which is pushing wages up. There are all these huge developments rolling off the design board and they need to be done because there are penalty clauses."

"If it means facing a huge bill for not finishing a project on time, or paying someone US$2,700 to $4,000 a month above market rate, they're always going to do this."

"But this has a very negative effect on market rates and blows them out of all proportion."

In the past, most project managers, architects and quantity surveyors would have come from the UK, Western Europe, Australia or South Africa. But with inflated wage demands, many contractors and recruiters began looking to the less traditional markets of India and the Far East.

However, these areas are now experiencing their own construction boom, leading to many workers either packing their bags and going home, or not leaving in the first place.

Print | Email | Discuss this article

| Share |

READERS' COMMENTS

Click here to post a comment

Add your Comment All posts are sent to the administrator for review and are published only after approval. ArabianBusiness.com reserves the right to remove any comment at any time for any reason. Please keep your responses appropriate and on topic. Arabian Business would like to point out that only comments relevant to the story will be published. Any containing personal insults or inappropriate language will not be approved.
Name *
Remember me on this computer
Email *	(Your email address will not be published)
City
Country
Subject *
Comment *
Notify me of further comments
Enter the words above *
Please click post only once - your comment will not be published immediately.

MORE FROM ARABIANBUSINESS.COM