There are not many Qataris in hospitality sector jobs despite the industry thriving amid continuing economic boom.

What mainly prevents young Qataris from joining the hospitality industry is a mix of factors, including low prestige attached to the jobs in society.

Salaries and perks in these jobs do not match those government employment offers, which are also prestigious and secure.

However, the biggest barrier young unemployed Qataris face in landing hotel jobs is that not many, especially secondary school certificate holders, know English.

And those keen to get into the hospitality industry want an administrator’s position even though they have secondary school qualifications.

There are lots of young Qataris who have passed out of secondary schools and are looking for jobs but very few prefer the hotel industry for a career, local Arabic daily Al Raya reports.

“I am willing to work in a hotel provided I get an administrator’s position,” said Ali Al Hammoud, who is on the lookout for a job after passing out secondary school. We don’t know English and that’s the main problem. Also, our people generally look down upon a hotel sector job,” Hamad Ali, another Qatari youth with secondary school qualifications, told the daily.

Hamad, however, said since there are not many jobs available for Qatari youth with secondary school qualifications, he has submitted his CV to several hotels.

Hotel industry jobs are new for Qatari society and people are conservative and generally look down upon them. “But I think gradually attitudes are changing,” twins Azzam and Abdulaziz Al Subei said. “Most in our community think a hotel job is all about working as a receptionist or doing valet parking for guests,” they added. But for a young Qatari mother, Umm Zabia, the fast-expanding hospitality sector has tremendous attraction.

Working in a bank for nine years, she said she was now aspiring to land a hotel job for better pay, perks and prestige.

“For several years I have been making efforts to improve my skills and abilities so I could land a hotel job. The sector has been developing here like mad,” she said.

Abdullah Mahmoud, a public relations official at Al Sharq Village and Spa, said some four percent of the hotel’s staff are Qatari. It is true that perceptions about hotel jobs in the Qatari community are conservative but when Qataris join the sector that changes, he said.

Image: www.britishcouncil.qa

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