Module 4

A Labor Dimension of the Oil & Gas Industry in Qatar

Introduction

This module covers the labor dimension of the oil and gas industry in Qatar, the driving force behind the country’s economy. Following the discovery of the Dukhan oil field in 1940, the first offshore oil field in 1960, and subsequently the discovery of natural gas resources in the 1970s, Qatar became an important player in the world’s oil and gas industry (Arugay, 2021). This led to an immense and rapid expansion of its economy. However, Qatari nationals only make up about 10% of the total population making them a minority within their own country. Given the small size of the native population, it was necessary to rely on qualified and professional expatriates in order to take full advantage of the wealth of Qatar’s natural resources. It has been reported that as of 2017, 70% of the working expatriates in Qatar hail from South Asia; specifically, from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Nepal (Ullah, 2017). The 2020 Labor Force Sample Survey conducted throughout Qatar found that the labor force consisted of 2.1 million economically active people, with 95% of the labor force consisting of Non-Qataris (Planning and Statistics Authority, 2021). Additionally, in 2021, approximately 1 million of these migrant workers are employed in the construction field with around 100,000 as domestic workers (Human Rights Watch, 2021). With this, a sizeable number of Indonesian workers have been working in Qatar’s oil and gas industry since the mid-1990s (Sidi, 2019). These statistics display the heavy reliance on non-nationals by the Qatari labor market. Thus, it would be instructive to acknowledge, understand, and learn from the working experiences and challenges faced by these migrant workers. Understanding their roles and contributions would serve at least two things. First, to appreciate the important role they play in the development of Qatar’s oil and gas industry and hence to ensure the protection of their rights under Qatari laws. Second, to tell a more complete story of Qatar’s oil and gas industry and the development of the country. 

The aim of this module is to highlight the roles and contributions of these Southeast and South Asian oil and gas professionals. We contacted and interviewed a total of 15 oil and gas employees who come from countries such as Indonesia, India, Pakistan, and the Philippines. We also have one respondent from an East Asian country to add to the overall number of female interviewees. Out of those fifteen people, five are female employees and the rest are male. Some of them had worked in their home countries or elsewhere before coming to Qatar. They currently work or have worked in various positions for several oil and gas companies such as QatarEnergy, SLB, Qatar Shell, QAPCO, and TotalEnergies. These interviews were conducted on Zoom over several weeks, and then we transcribed and analyzed these interviews. 

This module highlights several themes that emerged as our interviewees recounted and compared their personal and professional experiences in Qatar to other places they have worked: the personal stories and motivations of these workers to come to work in Qatar’s oil and gas industry, their workplace challenges, their thoughts on Qatarization and their mentorship experience, and their advice for young aspiring engineers.

Figure 1: Oil refinery plant (Source: Getty Images)

Motivations to come to Qatar

Our interviewees shared several reasons for choosing to move to and work in Qatar. They include Qatar’s diverse workforce, the country’s Islamic culture, English as a standard language, high salaries and benefits, and a more welcoming environment for female workers. A crucial factor that motivated many of them to move to and stay in Qatar was the country’s multicultural working environment. 

One interviewee, (DS), currently a geoscience data manager from Indonesia, shed light on Qatar’s reliance on expatriate workers and foreign companies and thus, the atmosphere created, as she shared: “When I was in the previous company as it was more American, it had mostly American expatriates, Indonesians, and only a few Europeans. When I got thrown to Qatar, as you see in Qatar, it is like the United Nations when you go to one park. You hear everyone speaking a different language. At [my company here], we have more than 40 nationalities. Most of them are Indian or French but then you see all the other nationalities that I didn't even think like, oh, I will find someone from St. Kitts Nevis, for example, or I find someone from Djibouti, and then it's adding more to my knowledge about their culture, about how they think. Because obviously, how you think is also based on how you were brought up, and how you were educated.” She added, “With international companies, I feel like you see a lot of people from different backgrounds, and different nationalities. You feel like you have more hands-on knowledge of how they think, how they behave, and how we react, and when we discuss anything, it’s quite interesting to see that human nature is so different based on culture.” 

Another interviewee Ms. Ristiani, who is an Indonesian technical secretary, confided: “Of course, it's different because in Indonesia it is only one culture, Indonesian culture, everyone is almost the same. But here, we are working in a multinational culture, we have a different culture, different working style, and different opinions, based on our culture, so we have to be able to adapt, and we have to be able to adjust ourselves so we can work in one good teamwork.” Ms. Ristiani effectively drew from her experience working in Indonesia and how in Qatar, she required some agency to be able to adapt to a shockingly diverse environment. Similarly, Mr. Hidayat from Indonesia told us: “With regards to the demography or the workforce composition, in Indonesia, they are all multinational companies, Chevron, DuPont and you know, 90-95% of the workforce is Indonesian. If you compare it to Qatar, around 20-30% are Qatari whereas the rest come from 51 nationalities, so really, the working environment is more diverse in Qatargas. So, this is one thing that I see is like a culture shock. It gave me an indication that this is a melting pot when it comes to the working environment.” 

Likewise, Ms. Riju describes Qatar as a culturally diverse country and that it is a positive attribute of the working environment. This suggests that Qatar welcomes people from different nationalities, backgrounds, and ethnicities which increases the diversity in the workplace. Moreover, she told us: “There are so many communities living here. So many people from different backgrounds, perspective but when we all work together, they are very respectful. I don't think the racial aspect here has ever come up for me. No, it's been very, very positive. I got transferred to Qatar 10 years ago. Until now, and whenever I leave Qatar, this is something that I will take with me that has been very welcoming.” According to a study by Elizabeth Foma (2014) on workplace diversity, several positive impacts of having a diverse culture in a workplace include the reduction of stereotypes and discrimination and the enhancement of employees’ morale, profit, and productivity as diverse individuals find ways to work with each other. As mentioned, these employees have been able to find their communities due to this and relate to and learn from one another’s experiences, making the transition to a foreign country less daunting. 

Most of these expatriate workers also come from Muslim-majority countries such as Pakistan and Indonesia. This made Qatar more attractive to them as well. Mr. Ulumuddin shared that as a Muslim in Indonesia, coming to another Muslim environment in Qatar made him feel more at home. Similarly, Mr. Hidayat shared, “I could make a smooth entry into the working environment in Qatar. Me being Muslim and Qatar also being a Muslim country, I did not see any shocks [regarding religion].” During another interview, an oil and gas employee from India (AMS) mentioned multiple benefits of working in the oil and gas industry in Qatar such as working in a multinational company and being able to perform his religious practices. He explains that the environment is welcoming and that the proper “facilities” are provided to allow him to perform his religious rituals, giving the example of how he is accommodated when he wants to pray on time for lunch. This shows us how Qatar’s Islamic roots have provided an almost seamless and immediate transition for these Muslim workers as they place importance on being provided for and allowed to practice their faith. 

Additionally, the fact that the English language is widely spoken in Qatar eased many of these expatriates as they work and live in Qatar. One interviewee said that because he used English in his previous company, it made it easier for him to adjust to his company in Qatar. There was no need to learn or speak Arabic. This would often not be the case working in an oil and gas industry in another country. Professor Retnanto recounts how during his time at an energy company in Venezuela, reading reports, participating in meetings, and virtually everything else were conducted in Spanish, making it imperative that he learns the language. 

Our interviewees also mentioned high remuneration and benefits as a positive factor to working in Qatar. Ms. Ristiani said: “Basically, at that time in 2006, Qatar was not really known, well known by everyone. So, I was pushed to come to Qatar because I got married and my husband was already working here. Then what attracted my husband to come here in 2002, was of course the salary, the income, and all the benefits that the Q companies offer to all the expats. Then I started to work. I think this is quite good if I can, you know, enhance my skill, my knowledge here. I was working before not in the oil and gas industry, but it was just like in a construction company. Then slowly I moved to an oil and gas company. Qatar is well-known for oil and gas here with QatarEnergy so there are many benefits and privileges, and the level of communication and working is different. I also never had difficulties due to my nationality. There was no different treatment.” Another interviewee referred to the fact that Qatar holds the number one rank for “Safest Country in the World” on the Numbeo Crime Index for the two consecutive years of 2021 and 2022 (Numbeo, 2022). Mr. Sumara from Indonesia said: “The salary for each level is the same wherever you go. But in Qatar, you will get free accommodation, free transportation, and free education for your kids. There is no tax. And the country is safe,” highlighting that Qatar does not impose income tax on employed individuals' salaries and wages.  

(DS), a female employee, gave the following reason for moving to Qatar: “Actually, at that time in my previous company in Indonesia, the activities were slightly going down. I felt like I didn't have enough challenges in the position. So, I started applying online, all around the world. There was no particular purpose of [choosing to apply to] a country. And then [I was told] one of the opportunities was here in Qatar. So, when we start to have the interview, I saw the position is the one that I know I can do. I know I can contribute to the company. So, I was like, okay, let's just go to Qatar, despite not having that much knowledge about Qatar, but I was like, well, there is a challenge. And the company was open for a single female because obviously, I tried to apply for Saudi Aramco as well but then I know in Saudi Aramco, at the time, it was a bit hard to have a single female and there was no position that was suitable for my experience. So yeah, Qatar was the first one to give me options. So, I came here.” 

Having been involved with psychology in the academic, clinical, industrial fields, Mr. Budz, a human performance and care specialist from the Philippines, says that he was prepared for what was expected in Qatar and in return, Qatar has given him the opportunity to do clinical work, training that is related to academic work as well as have industrial experience as he works in a corporate setting. He says, “Qatar has made me a more holistic and rounded practitioner in this experience.” 

One consequence of these workers making Qatar their place to live and work, is making Qatar also a home for their children. Ms. Ristiani told us: “If you ask my daughter and my son, I can see that they don't want to go back to Indonesia. Whenever we go back and forth on occasion, maybe it's just, you know, for a couple of days, they will just say, ‘I want to go home’. They never say, ‘I want to go to Qatar’ because this means that Qatar is already their second home.” Thus, we see how several factors come into play that make Qatar an inviting country to live and work in for these expatriates and their families

Figure 2: Oil pump (Source: Getty Images)

Workplace Challenges

Another recurring theme that our oil and gas employees shared with us was the challenges they encountered in their workplaces. These challenges consist of personal, professional, and technically related issues with doing their job. These challenges were implicitly and/or explicitly experienced by a number of these employees such as stereotypes faced regarding their racial identities, discovering a sense of community, and keeping up with the professional pressures of Qatar’s energy industry’s diligent work ethics. These employees also compared and contrasted Qatar’s energy sector with those in their home countries such as when it came to the hiring and recruitment process in these respective counties. 

Personal challenges 

Often, we found that there existed an overlap between what was perceived as a personal or a professional challenge. This was made clear when we asked our interviewees about their experiences with facing stereotypes pertaining to their racial identities which included particular assumptions and biases made by recruiters. Several of our interviewees expressed this challenge to us. (WH) shared; “I remember when I was interviewed by one of the HR recruitment staff, they were a bit surprised to know that I'm from Indonesia because typically when she interviewed Indonesians, and they say that they are Indonesian, often, they are pretty shy, they find it really difficult to express opinions. [Indonesians] are hard workers, but then when it comes to communication, and expressing opinions, they are not that good. So, when they interviewed me, they were a bit surprised. [The interviewer said to me] ‘I think you are not really Indonesian’ because of the way I behaved during the interview and so on … I don't really 100% agree that heritage or racial identity has so much influence on the work somebody is working in, in the oil and gas industry. But that's my opinion.”  

Another of our informants (CQ) recalled how there was a type of discrimination that existed during recruitment in the Philippines as well. Employers cared about status and the employee’s parents’ professions, pressuring employees to feel that their families had to come from wealth and success in order for them to land a worthy job. 

Likewise, this type of treatment sometimes continued beyond the hiring stage. (CQ) adds to the discrepancy that exists between male and female employees by sharing her experience as a full-time Filipina in the workplace. At her previous company, the name of which she did not wish to disclose, Filipinos, especially the women, were thought to be cleaning service workers as they were asked to clean managers’ offices, even when they held high ranks. Qatar Shell on the other hand, where (CQ) currently works, does not discriminate based on stereotype – not only because it is degrading but also because it is not in the employee’s job description. She finds that her current company allows her to find a balance between her personal and professional life as she receives support as a new mother. She receives flexible hours so she can care for her children and her maternity leave does not affect her performance reviews, so she does not feel pressured to return to work in the fear of a bad review or being replaced. Similarly, (DS) described how Asians and Southeast Asians in general, are known to be big in the service industry and support, creating a rather wide assumption about the region and its people. “It's not like [we are] trying to please everybody, but we're trying as much as possible to have everyone do their job properly and it's just based on our culture that we like to help each other.” When they bring these attitudes into the office, while many people appreciate this, they also find the issue of needing to set a boundary, “because obviously there are things that we know we can help with, but it might not be our job.” 

An Indonesian expatriate (JW) explains the hardships of adapting to a new environment and being able to prove himself within that environment. This is illustrated in his words; “I am the only Asian manager in my company, in the operation managers, only the one and the other is, of course, the local people and then the white skin and the blue eyes.” He mentions how in the beginning, he did not fit in quite well and that he had to convince others of his professional capabilities; “at the time, [it was] sometimes a bit difficult to prove or to convince them that I can do the job.” Furthermore, adapting was quite challenging as it was his first time outside his country let alone in a very diverse and different environment. He shared, “For example, when I was having a meeting or introducing myself to them as ‘I am the new manager,’ [They replied] ‘Where do you come from?’ [to which I responded] ‘I’m from Indonesia’ and then [they said], ‘Oh, from Indonesia. My maid at home is from Indonesia.’ Can you imagine that? I [must] prove myself, that I'm also a professional.”  

Ms. Ristiani personally finds that the multinational environment surrounding her in the industry in Qatar can sometimes be challenging but adds that she thinks this is also a “very, very good chance to enhance my ability to work, to adapt, to adjust with so many nationalities, and so many cultures.”  

On the other side of the coin, Mr. Budz mentions, “Pertaining to my own nationality, there is not a lot of us in this kind of set up,” referring to the fact that there a very few Filipinos in his field of psychology in the oil and gas industry in Qatar. When asked how it feels not to be surrounded with people from his own country, he shared, “For one, there's a feeling of pride and privilege. But there's also, on the flip side of it, a feeling of being lonely. Because when I'm with my own ‘kabayans’, not a lot of people can relate to the experience so I don't have a lot of people that I can speak to, go to, and then just have a conversation where were we were just on the same page.” 

Professional challenges 

In terms of professional development, (DS) shared that her company in Qatar is “very big on training the employee” and that when you are a fresh graduate and “get thrown into the real world,” you are met with the challenge that not all the “theoretical stuff you learn in college can be applied right away.” Because of this, there is a set of training one must complete which makes their transition into the company as a fresh graduate smoother and less of a challenge. Ms. Ristiani too, stated how she learned a lot of new things about reporting and budgeting by working in the energy sector in Qatar; “When I moved to the oil and gas industry, reporting is more specific on our oil and gas field, like the monthly report, it will be different with the other companies, then there’s the daily reporting, the production reporting.” 

On the same page of specific and practical skills necessary to working in Qatar’s energy sector, Ms. Suzuki, a geophysicist from Japan, highlights the importance of data in Qatar and specifically how data is viewed as the most crucial property: “[My company is] always asking us to make sure we acquire the good quality of data and to also upgrade the good quality of the data processing.” She also points out how in other places, because time and money is the most valued, they tend to “compromise with data quality” and so, they “just quickly acquire some couple sets of data.” However, Qatar considers data to be a property of its own. Additionally, when it comes to quality data, it is important to emphasize accuracy. Ms. Ristiani said, “We have to learn how to work in a zero-mistake manner.” She also shared the challenge of always having to prove themselves because of their expatriate status. “We have to be able to demonstrate our skill, our professional skill, which is what the company expects from us because we are expats. If we are an expat, that means to say that we are hired for special skills. We are not like the local people that we will go for the training again, right? Because we are expats, we are hired for this professional skill otherwise, why would they have to hire expats if we don't have the capability in that particular skill?” 

In the same light, (CQ) shared the pressure she constantly feels of being replaced because she works as an admin assistant and does not have the specialized and technical skills of an engineer. The way she copes with this is by constantly trying to learn and understand the technical aspects and intricacies of the industry. 

Mr. Budz shared about his experience during a crisis that happened a couple years ago that involved a dip in oil prices in order to illustrate some professional challenges employees in the oil and gas industry face, “We got impacted. We normally get impacted when there is any issue in regard to oil prices and [global] supply and demand. So much so that we will be impacted by redundancies and reduction in our salaries or even termination.” He explains how workers would not get terminated because they were not performing well but simply because their roles then become redundant. “We also get impacted by national security issues like the blockade. Because of [the blockade], a number of our colleagues also lost their jobs and some of us had to take wage reductions just to stay [with our] job. So, it's safe to say that whenever there is a fluctuation in the supply and demand of this industry, we get impacted.” Mr. Budz however finds some peace of mind in the fact that his role as a human performance and care specialist is rather unique in a way that there are not a lot of people within Qatar that can perform his role. Thus, he is not impacted as harshly in terms of redundancy. 

 

Although high pay and benefits play a role in attracting workers to Qatar, we learn that there are also some differences experienced between female and male workers with the help of our interviewees. Statistically, the number of female engineers in the Arab world exceeds the numbers found in the US, and yet, not as many ultimately join the oil and gas industry in Qatar (Nagraj, 2021). In Western nations, increasing the participation of women in the STEM fields (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) is a major focus point and concern. However, contrary to stereotypes and popular belief, the situation is almost opposite in several Middle Eastern states including Qatar. According to UNESCO, women make up 34-57% of STEM graduates in Arab nations, compared to 16% and 14%, respectively, in the UK and the USA (Nagraj, 2021). The main issue we identify here is that despite the high number of STEM graduates in Arab nations, they are not always represented in the workforce, with the Arab world having some of the lowest rates of female labor force participation.  

As interviewee (DS) points out, there is a difference in the treatment of male and female engineers in Qatar in terms of remuneration even when their work duties are the same. On the other hand, there is no difference in the treatment experienced in Indonesia. Recently when a review took place at her oil and gas company in Qatar in order to ensure men and women holding the same position or same level of responsibility, were held as equal, our interviewee noticed for the first time that if there is a review taking place, that points to the fact that “there is something that is causing it to be reviewed.” She shares that in Indonesia, this type of inequality does not exist. She says, “In Indonesia, I was a fresh graduate and when I entered a company at the time, there were seven of us, all male and female, with the same starting salary. And then obviously, over the years, the salary changes based on your performance.” Because at the Qatar company, all employee benefits are standard regardless of if you are male or female, she did not realize there was a salary discrepancy until the review took place.  

(DS) also notes that in terms of gender, being a woman in the oil and gas industry feels rather tricky because it is a male-dominated workplace: “Especially if you go to the production, to the rig, most are men, but that doesn't mean women are not welcome. It is just that [we] need to be willing to open ourselves to that experience. And sometimes I noticed if there is no one [that has taken that] step, if there is no female that starts that step, I might think it is impossible. I had a senior back in my college that now is a professional. She used to work as a Schlumberger field engineer. So, if I didn't know she was an engineer for oil and gas, I might not think oil and gas is for me, I might work for some other industry. So, the challenge is still there like there is still a limited number of females in the industry, especially in Qatar, but let's be honest, in Qatar, the population of females itself is not that great. So, when I was in Indonesia, my team, we have more women than men but then in Indonesia itself, we have more women than men. So, I think it's just a matter of the quantity itself before it comes to like okay, you keep getting male and male but then actually females are also working and are also being appreciated a lot in the oil and gas industry.” 

Even though being a woman and of Southeast Asian origin has affected her experience in the industry, (CQ) explains that Qatar supported her to overcome these obstacles. She describes Qatar as an “opening” and a chance to succeed as she chronicled her past difficulties in the Philippines and how it was hard to get a satisfactory job there. She explains that working in the Philippines, she’d be treated according to her family’s status rather than her work ethic. This is clearly implied by “It's like, I didn't come from a well-known family with a good background and experience even experience while applying for a job, [they will ask] what's my father's job and what's my mother's job so it's really discriminating because I feel like my parents need to be this kind of educated and professional to be hired.” This is different to how she describes Qatar; “I'm here in Qatar and as long as you're good and as long as you're hard-working and you have education and you have a good attitude, I believe that you will land a good career and then you can be successful. So that's why I really love it here in Qatar.” 

Technical challenges 

There are multiple challenges that were faced by these professionals in the oil and gas industry, which indicate the strict nature of the industry in terms of economic growth as well as the pressure placed on its employees to always be efficient and grow along with the company. Dr. Tariq Masood, from Pakistan, has described multiple challenges such as ensuring operational safety for the people, asset integrity and ensuring production target. Operational safety is vital as to keep people safe and manage work under secure circumstances, especially important amidst the potential riskiness of the oil and gas industry. Furthermore, the challenge with asset integrity is to keep improving the assets or ensuring that the operation equipment have the capacity to run the parameter or operating envelope. Dr. Masood shared that it is crucial to meet the five key performance indicators (KPIs) in order to continuously improve your system. The first challenge and KPI in the field is safety; operational, people, and health safety. The second is “asset integrity and reliable productions”, wherein when you improve your assets and equipment, you are improving your safety as well. The third is your “staff skill enhancement” where you choose skilled people to run the operations. The fourth pertains to your projects and the last is your operating costs. As an employee in Qatar, you must strictly follow these key performance indicators and resolve all challenges that arise in any of these categories. 

When describing his research in nanotechnology, (RY) also explained how limited the resources available to him were around 22 years ago. He says, “Even the computers we had, imagine the highest storage that we had, I think it [was] actually 500 MB. Imagine, not even one giga. How can you put 1,000 pieces of scanned papers and software, so on into that kind of stuff?” (RY) also speaks about the current difficulty of monitoring the continuous changes in the industry, “I actually have a fear that I might not be able to monitor what's actually changing and somewhat uphold those particular changes.” Even though he believes that the subject load is quite heavy, he thinks that the challenge of his current job in academia is ensuring that he is up to date with the changes that have been occurring with advanced technology.  

This is seen across the board in the oil and gas industry, whether it be in academia or in administration like with (CQ), who has mentioned that one of the challenges she faces is to “keep up with everyone.” However, this allows her to continuously learn and grow more as an individual. 

Mr. Wibisono also believes that one of the greatest challenges in the oil and gas industry is to obtain knowledge with continuous learning. Applying this knowledge then into your work could also be quite difficult at times. Furthermore, (DS) also states that “There's always new stuff that you can see every day and especially in Qatar” so “you need to keep studying” and this indicates that the continuous progress and development means that the individual needs to, and sometimes feels pressured to, grow rapidly with the same progress as the industry.

Figure 3: Technology of the oil transportation system(Getty Images)

Qatarization

As mentioned previously, Qatar is a massive and crucial player in the global energy industry. And because of its heavy reliance on expatriate workers, the industry in Qatar is now dominated by non-nationals. Thus, in order to increase the number of Qatari nationals within their labor force, the state launched a Qatarization program in 2000. As part of the country’s first-ever Strategic Qatarization Plan, a quota was established requiring 50% of Qatari nationals in the energy sector (Constant et al., 2015). This strategy is part of the state’s efforts to encourage localization within the workforce: recruiting and developing citizens in order to increase their skills for employability and in turn to effectively reduce the country’s dependency on expatriates within the labor force. 

The expatriate workers we interviewed provided their first-hand knowledge and experiences with the process of Qatarization in their workplaces. Mr. Hidayat, who works as a head of loss prevention and risk engineering, shares his thoughts on this Qatarization strategy: “I think it is a massive thing to do for Qatar if they want to be surviving and achieving their 2030 vision. I understand this is quite challenging for Qatar, because of the growing demographic that they have and again, setting a target for Qatarization is always challenging. So, if I’m not mistaken, for the oil and gas industry, the ministry set a target of around 50%. We are not there yet, to be honest, but I can see that right now there are so many leadership positions held by our Qatari friends. There are so many engineers that are interested in joining Qatar's oil and gas industry which is a good sign. And we as experts I would say are grateful and clever enough to help them with the mentoring and transfer of knowledge and transfer of experiences so that they can be the hosts in their own country.” 

Constant and colleagues (2015) describe the set Qatarization quota that comprises a quota requiring at least 50% of nationals employed in the energy, oil, and gas sector and assess the ramifications of Qatarization wherein the most successful aspect of Qatarization so far has been achieved in the oil and gas sector, where companies are affiliated with QatarEnergy, the state-owned petroleum company. However, as our interviewees helped us understand, Qatar’s energy sector is now focusing on “attracting, developing, motivating, and retaining” Qataris instead of meeting mere numeral targets. The idea of recruiting, training, and keeping qualified Qatari workers in the oil and gas industry is shared by one of our interviewees, (AA), an employee from Pakistan who said, “One thing which is important for this Qatarization initiative and something which is often vocally mentioned at [my company] is ‘Quality Qatarization’. Because Qatarization is not a number in itself where you get that many nationals out of that many total people, but that you have to get that many quality nationals to be there and contribute effectively to the company. Here, we are managing that through this mentoring program, through these training programs for all those young Qataris so that they become a kind of quality effective Qatari contributor to the company, as opposed to just kind of offering the statistics that we got that much Qatarization and that is making us stay unique and stay on top of the rest of the companies, not just in the oil industry, but the overall national and international environment.”  

This connects to research conducted by Maryam Al-Subaiey (2016) wherein Qatarization must address the quality of the local workforce rather than its quantity. Education is deemed the most important factor here as the country imports foreign labor to mentor the local population so that they may reach the level at which they can then contribute to Qatar’s labor force. Qatar Petrochemical Company (QAPCO), for instance, illustrates how they are committed to “identifying, recruiting, developing and retaining exceptional Qatari employees” for key positions in their company through the use of robust national development, internship programs, and scholarships, and by rewarding those Qatari nationals based on their skills and contributions in order to encourage performance that sustains Qatari culture and long-term business goals (QAPCO, n.d.).  

One contributing factor to the success of Qatarization is the wide availability of scholarship, mentorship, internship, and sponsorship opportunities for its citizens in oil and gas companies. While investing in their employees and their futures, this also makes energy companies the most desirable employers in the country and helps keep up with the rapid growth of Qatar’s oil and gas, power generation, petrochemical, distribution, and production companies. These scholarships and sponsorship opportunities that are readily available at QP subsidiaries, as opposed to mid-sized companies, make it more challenging for smaller companies to “compete against the competitive wages and salaries offered by larger, well-funded companies” (Constant et al., 2015). Essentially, within the country, demand is high, and supply is limited, so there are strong incentives for Qataris to join the oil and gas sector over other industries. This type of mentorship also works to bridge the gap between academic learning and practical know-how by allowing students to actively participate in the industry and learn things like data management and daily activities, instead of merely sitting in a university classroom. 

Here, one expatriate engineer Mr. Ulumuddin said, “When I joined [my company], I had the obligation to also coach [the national graduates] every year. A student who was before my trainee has now become my boss so I'm proud of this. I don't worry about Qatarization because I always actually encourage them because this is still their country. Sooner or later, as an expatriate, I will leave the country. So that's why the responsibility will be on their shoulders.” His sentiment is shared by another of our interviewees, (CQ), who told us, “The goal of the country is to have their Qatari citizens be the leaders because it's their country. It is about the future leaders of Qatar so I understand why it is so important to them because as a Filipino, I would want my country to develop me because I want to be the leader of my country.” Furthermore, (CQ) had the following thought to share with us: “So, at first when I joined, I was thinking that when Qatarization happens, we will be sent home and we will not have this opportunity again to work for Qatar because then they will take over and change everything but it's not like that. They have changed my mindset. It is about helping the young Qataris to support Qatarization because we know that they will become future leaders of the country. [Qatari students] have different struggles because they have to work harder to show everyone that ‘We are not just rich kids, we are also intelligent, we are confident and professionals, we are leaders’.” 

Mentoring national employees are primarily carried out by non-nationals, who eventually would, as (BU) explained, be replaced by nationals. What we gather from our interviews is that the role of international workers seems to be focused on setting a roadmap for nationals to gradually follow. The knowledge and skills of workers from abroad are needed to train and promote that of local citizens.  

Mr. Hidayat has the following to say about mentorship and Qatarization: “[At my company], we have a very strict budget in terms of Qatarization. So, every department has something for the national development program, or we call it NDP. So, for example, in my section, I'm always having books for the national graduates, or today, I'm having one graduate working with me. The program comprises five phases and once these national graduates have completed this, then they move into more established positions to become engineers … every three years, I'm always having one national graduate join my section.” Another interviewee, (DS), shares a different kind of mentorship program in her company: “We have a mentorship program. [However, due] to my workload, I don't have the time to enter this mentoring program. But I took a few interns starting in 2019, usually for six to nine months. Gives them a bit of brief knowledge on how geoscience data management works, and how the daily activities go on. In my opinion, hopefully, it helps the young generation of engineers to know a bit about the industry and how they can learn more or where they can see like, okay, maybe I need to dig deeper into this skill because I know the skill is being used more rather than this other skill. 

Expatriate workers and globalization have greatly contributed towards Qatarization as a majority of the mentees who are considered the most promising and who are integrated into these companies are Qatari students from Texas A&M University, an American and Western institution. This is confirmed by one expatriate, (AS) who said: “As part of our contract, we have a clause that we must teach as a mentor of the new generation of Qatar, and Alhamdulilah, they have become the highest now. Whoever joins is [one of] the best [graduates] from Texas A&M and Qatar University.” Neha Vora, in her book Teaching for Arabia (2014), explains that this interconnectedness and cultural exchange that occurs between students, citizens, and international employees has been made possible due to relations between Qatari and Western institutions and companies. We observe here that Qatar has utilized Western companies and educational institutions in order to advance and boost the abilities of their local population so that they can then integrate these skilled and competent students into the industry and increase the number of qualified Qataris within the workforce. 

Our interviewees also share their thoughts on the Qatari mentees. Ms. Ristiani says, “Because these are young people, they need to learn more. We are here, experts, we are hired for our professional skills, not like them, right? But they are the ones that will continue the business of the company. Of course, they have to learn more from us as the experts. We are having a skill and we have to share our skills with them. So, they can, later on, run the company and also run their country.” To which Mr. Ulumuddin added: “Of course, every engineer is different. Some of them are quite good and diligent but some of them aren’t like that. So, I always give them the spirit to do as much as possible because learning from doing, is better than just learning in the university and class. Because sometimes the learning from the class is not the same in the reality.” 

Regarding young Qataris working in the oil and gas industry, (CQ) also mentions, “[My company] has always been the number one because they always try to even exceed the numbers that were expected from them. We have a lot of Qataris who are really young, and they've been given an opportunity. They’re really good. Even in my department, we have this young Qatari lady and when she joined, she was very shy but after a while, she came out of her shell. She's really become someone to look for when there's a problem with process safety.” This connects to a gender component that exists within the theme of mentorship and Qatarization, indicating that young women are also entering the industry and what is more, they are excelling at it despite local restrictions and mindsets. (CQ) goes on, “I know we have this diversity and inclusion, and female Qataris would normally not even be allowed to take engineering courses. Their fathers expect them to be like, teachers and nurses or doctors, so in this field, it was a struggle for them but now it's different. They're becoming the leaders in an engineering company surrounded by men, and they feel like they can still become a leader and succeed.” This has shed light on the working conditions in Qatar when it comes to the energy sector and provides hope that circumstances for Qatari women may be improving. 

And finally, one interviewee (AMS) confided, “Most of the Qatari nationals that I have been mentoring or are coming out from the petroleum engineering degree are ladies, which is very good in terms of them taking their right kind of share into the development of the country. I must add that all of them are outstanding and very committed, and they always want to make an impact and try to think out of the box, at least for me because I have been kind of an old timer and I have a certain thought process. They always, I won't say challenge, but guide me to a new direction to think differently, especially with the technological advancements and so forth. So, definitely, those young Qatari engineers who are joining, are quite capable and very committed in their roles.” Thus, while the industry in question is indeed predominately male, more and more interns and fresh graduates coming into these companies are female, committed, and capable of contributing strongly and effectively to the company’s production and goals.

Advice for Aspiring Engineers

In this section of the module, we discuss some advice provided to us by our interviewees, aimed at aspiring young engineers and students from the Global South, a region where all these experts are from themselves. Their suggestions overlap between educational, practical, personal, and professional. 

There’s a confidence that exists that the oil and gas industry will still survive in the future, which points to the need for young talents. According to the MET Group, the global energy demand has not reached its peak yet and renewable energy is not popular enough to keep up with these demands (2021). Based on data collected in 2015, oil is predicted to last for another 51 years, natural gas 53 years, and coal 114 years (MET Group, 2021). This is attested by one of our interviewees. “For the young engineer, if they are aspiring to pursue a career in the oil and gas industry or energy industry, it still remains there for the next 45, 50 years,” Mr. Hidayat predicts. He mentions how with growing populations and as oil and gas companies expand and diversify into the field of renewable energy, the demand, and requirements for energy will only grow, leading to more job opportunities in the industry and for young generations. 

One recurring educational advice from several professionals for aspiring engineers is to be open-minded about their training and expectation of the job market. Mr. Hidayat says, “When young engineers graduate from university, they want to aspire to a career in a specific field … aligned with whatever they have been studying at university. If you graduated from chemical engineering, you want to pursue a career in chemical engineering. I think we need to be open-minded because one of the aspects the industry is looking for is not only the technical aspect but also the attitude, the openness to learn something new, the technical abilities, and so on. So, if you ask me, the kind of advice that I will give to the young engineer will be being open to something new, having the self-motivation and self-drive to learn.” 

The need to be open-minded is supported by another oil and gas professional. Mr. Sumara has the following to say: “The industry is growing rapidly, and competition is getting tight and tight … Learn more and study hard … Open your mind - in Islam we call it Iqraa which means to open your mind.” He touches upon the increasingly globalized, competitive, and rapidly changing nature of the workplace and advises students to learn many new things in their studies so that they would be ready for their future jobs. Mr. Yarc, as a teacher at Texas A&M University, believes that students should be trained on the particular equipment used in the [oil and gas] industry while they are still in school and at the labs. This is so students may understand the professional setting and environment because it would be unrealistic for them to know how everything works from the very first day on the job. On being perceptive and open to learning new things, another professional, Mr. Budz, echoes what the above professionals have said. He advises young engineers to “Be willing to explore and expand what traditionally you are reared in within the university. So, for example, usually, when you finish college, you have a certain picture of what kind of work you will be doing. Well, I have news for you. When you enter the corporate world, whatever picture you have, the kind of engineering work that you will be doing is either incomplete or wrong. And if you stick with that picture, then you'll just get yourself frustrated and you set yourself up to fail. So, I'd say widen your horizons.” 

In terms of the competitive nature of the industry, (DS) says, “I know the work is getting more and more competitive. So obviously, Qatar is such a good place to have all this experience. … So, you might need to start small like being an intern or contractor and then you keep enriching your skill until you have good experience that you know you can contribute more to the company. I've been hearing many rumors like for example, this company only hires more than five years of experience. So maybe for the fresh graduate, it's not fair. So, either you go do your masters or you work somewhere else and come back to Qatar.” 

Ms. Chandrayana, a senior accountant manager for sales and commercial functions from India, describes what it means to be a woman in the oil and gas industry and provides advice on how she overcame these hurdles. “You do not see too many women working alongside you. We still have a long way to go in the oil and gas industry and you all know that you must have done the statistics we have a long way to go to achieve that even 25%, you know, to be 25% of the workforce.” Yet, although challenging, she explains that it is “very rewarding, you will feel that sense of achievement, you can see that women are making changes within the industry.” Ms. Chandrayana encourages girls to be interactive, take initiative, and be assertive in order to grow. This is clearly highlighted as she discusses “I always say to women, and to all the young girls [who] would join the profession. I always tell them always grab your chair and sit at the table, do not stay behind,” adding that being able to do this demands respect from others. “Do not wait for anybody to come to you and ask you to do something, or ask you to join be, you know, take your own initiative and make sure that you heard right so and once you when you do that people appreciate it and you are rewarded accordingly.” 

Several of our interviewees gave practical advice for engineering students. (DS) encourages engineering students to be proactive in getting their work experience. She said, “For those who will graduate soon, start sending your CV as early as possible. Like most of the interns that I took, I usually select them before the summer, and I usually take them in early March. I know some companies have certain timelines. Career Fair is always there in your university. Even if you're still a student, throw in your CV because at least there will already be a record of your CV in the company. Most of the time, when I look for interns, the HR will not have time to go to university, so if they have some CV on record, they will send the CV that currently already exists. I don't have time to wait for universities, give me whatever you have.” 

Another oil and gas professional mentions the need to develop transferable skills, skills that are not necessarily taught in engineering courses but that are essential to doing the job well. Mr. Budz says, “By all means do well in your discipline, in your engineering work, but also consider the possibility that you will be doing other things. Other things such as supervising. You don't get subjects in college where you are taught what you need to know how to supervise people, let alone a group of migrant workers coming from different nationalities; from Nepal, India, Philippines, Sri Lanka, and what do you do in order to supervise them effectively, to get the work done and delivered. It's not all numbers, diagrams, and charts when you work. You will have to engage and interact with people. I know a lot of engineers who don't like to do that. They don't like speaking in front of huge crowds, but you must do that. You'll also have to do administrative work that you might not even expect.” 

According to Mr. Wibisono, developing self-confidence is another important skill that is not necessarily taught in the classroom. “I think one important thing you need to have is good self-confidence. When this is the starting point, when you have a concrete good confidence, then you are brave to face any situation. Knowledge or language or whatever is for me, second. And then, you need to respect people, not only those above you but also those below you. Don't think that because they are from the Philippines, or from Indonesia, Malaysia, because they are white skin and blue eyes and then you treat them differently. No, they are all the same.” And speaking of respect, Ms. Ristiani stresses the need to respect the people of the host country (in her term the “house” that is not your own). She says, “My message is that we are expats; we are coming from one country to another country. So, in each country, they have rules, they have regulations. So, if we come to another house, not our house, we must respect the culture and the rules of the house. We must leave aside sometimes our habits, our behaviors, just to adapt to the house that we live in right now. We must adjust ourselves to be fit with them and mingle with them and then make the house that you live in right now as a second home of yours.” 

One last important piece of advice comes from one oil and gas expatriate (AMS) who simply reminds aspiring engineers to never forget the people who help them along the way and through their journey, no matter how far they go.

Conclusion

As we have discussed through the course of this module, many expatriate workers are proud to be a part of Qatar and its booming oil and gas industry and enjoy the benefits and ease that the job and country provide them with. Its multicultural atmosphere, Islamic background, language, opportunity, and safety attract them to continue contributing to the country. However, that is not without its own unique challenges as well. These non-nationals have also experienced being stereotyped based on their racial identities, struggled with being among the few women in a male-dominated work environment, and often felt the pressure to keep up with strong working standards and technical knowledge to be considered worthy of their place in their respective companies. Additionally, over the years, the country’s Qatarization strategy has moved its focus into quality recruiting and mentorship rather than solely integrating more nationals into the industry which has created stronger young leaders for the generations to come. 

This module also offered insights from various experts that will be useful to many aspiring engineers hoping to join and contribute to the oil and gas industry and coming from countries in the Global South. A range of advice was offered that aimed to enhance the individuals personal and professional development. This included being open minded and flexible to a change in work expectations, to always taking initiative and being proactive, and to be well informed about your field but also open to learning new skills outside the work field such as administrative work and public speaking. This advice from professionals within the industry is crucial as it supports, guides, and influences fresh graduates and other ambitious engineers to make informed decisions at work and in the future. This also ensures that similar mistakes are not repeated, and offers valuable information on future opportunities.  

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