Expats paid by nationality or ability?

Ok.

oh no edifis, I do not believe that at all! There have been massive blunders comitted....BUT, when I have to choose between what is known about the environment here and people coming over from the West...as few as there are compared to other nationalities...I tend towards the environment...until proven wrong.

lol this discussion remind me the story of passport control in heathrow who ask amartya sen if he is a close friend of the trinity college master because of his address, some people are like that you can not change them

I see, that you believe that Western people can never commit a blunder and they are bound to succeed in anything they lay their hands on!

Edifis, I do not know, I am just guessing...I am not in the construction business. Never the less, if they are the best in the West as you said, then there must be other resons for this blunder. I do not believe though that this can be wholly blamed on the Western expatriates working for them in Qatar.

Unless Bechtel over here is useless in picking their staff.

Alas nomerci.... Bechtel...'not a good company'. If that is true then it's a sad state of affairs for the west, as they are considered the best in the Western World!

WK It seems there is one common factor for finishing a project on time is the presence of the Koreans or the Japanese.

Whereever Samsung CT are present the project generally finishes on time. Although they are contractors but they have a strong driving force that can force the incompetent Western consultants to work good and work fast!

Also I notice that so many projects by Daelim, Mitsubishi, LG and Hyundai are being finished on time and within budget.

well, then it seems they simply are not a good company! Those DO exist is the West too.

Were they not researched before they were hired? Or were they maybe one of the cheaper ones around?

WK what more can you expect from Bechtel..They have done so much work in Saudi that now they think that delay of an entire project lifespan is normal..

They also delayed the King Fahd International Airport at Dammam and the budget was exceeded.

I see. Since we are in this particular thread, i have to ask....those people making those decisiOns are Western ? Or Western educated? Or from somewhere else?

My personal experience tells me that it happened because the ones in charge of decision making are not knowledgeable enough to make those decisions. Asking for things that don't even exist, rejecting superior technology for outdated technology because the paper printed in 2004 says so.

Comparing technical products like comparing fruits & vegetables and then rejecting them.

They need to get some street smart people there pronto and not just people holding fancy degrees else it won't be complete even till 2015.

Zuzo, what exactly are you implying with your post? I hope nothing illegal...as that would be slander...and not taken lightly by the authorities.

... i bet apart from the car, employer must be taking really good care... i need not be frustrated or infuriated.. i have diarrehea ... whether is verbal or oral or... any type, i know how to control.. but again i pity u... lonely and waiting ,,,,

as far as Qatarisun is concerned, he needs to more educated on the subject...

Frenchieman, i myself is fond of automobiles, lets catch up that subject some other time...

saif, check your pm

Whyte, do you know why all that happened?

flexicode not so soon, CP 16 has made good progress but final finishing and handing over will take a long time there too.

nomerci the billions have been wasted because of delays. For example they had to built the new terminal on the old airport because the planes they ordered were ready for delivery and NDIA wasn't even close to completion. Over a Billion gone in that alone.

That's just one, the delay is of several years. It was finally scheduled to open in July 2011. I just checked on NDIA website, already edited to 2012 :)

Specifications for the project were set in 2004, now we are in 2011. Technology has undergone a drastic change during that time, they aren't even getting the best that money can buy even after spending way more than what they should.

The people in charge should atleast ensure that but ah well who cares..

Yes, the Qataris are so well known for never changing their minds or asking for design changes. These firms are laughing all the way to the bank.

Bechtel. 10 bucks mine...And the only package that is close to completion at NDIA is under a wholly Indian company, Punj Lloyd.

how can i meet u, i mean ur office where is it?

saif, I can, that's what I get paid for.

hey guys i m looking for job,driving anything, i used to be in qatar for 20 years

Whyte, no , not necessarily. The money would have gone into somebodies pocket instead of being used for what it was intended for....and in the end more money will be needed because the task will still have to be completed.

And of course, if material of minor quality were purchased and did not suffice in the end..now that will not only cost more money for buying more material but also for "repairing" or "eliminating' the problem this minor material has caused.

frenchieman the buyer is not changing mind.

The problem is with ADPI & OBI.

nomerci can u catch dreams for other ppl?

The problem with the airport, and a number of infrastructure projects here, is that buyers are constantly changing their minds. Firms are happy to oblige, but it means more fees and delays. Of course maybe they should have hired the teams that planned all the infrastructure for the last Asia Games.

Whyte, simple, Westerners dealing with massive corruption and incompetence.

Do I get a bonus for giving the reason too?

In this case its not corruption nomerci.

If there was corruption, the cost would have been less.

You can go first to guess the nationality.

Who ensured this "timely" completion and at such a low cost?

saif, I am a dream catcher.

The most mismanaged project in Qatar that I came across was New Doha International Airport. Delayed by quite a few years and budget overshot by few Billion Riyals.

Anyone wants to make a guess about the nationality of the consultants & the people involved in the project management?

Take a shot, ten bucks for the correct guess.

Frenchie, my driver is excellent for here! He knows exactly how to drive here.

I did not mean to imply that my driver is not good...he just does not have the qualifications a driver in the West would have. Which is fine, as he does not receive the salary that a driver in the West would.

zuzo I went once when I first arrived. Long story but I am an automobile enthusiast and my hobby took me down there. Never again. I have given up my hobby while in Qatar and do what most do. I have a good driver--apparently better than nomerci's :-)

what's ur job?nomerci

My employer takes care of my cars. thank you, no worries there.

Zuzo, if those "highly paid" people would not have been employed, those buildings would not be standing today. Good enough reason?

Second, my words were the , in comparison to yours, polite, response to your abusive posts.

And you can pity me all you want, fact remains, I get paid the big bucks and you don't. Maybe if you would use all that pent up anger to figure out what you REALLY need to change, things would get a little better for you.

.... i'm surprised... why do u have to take the car to industrial area.. u should do it at the agency where professionals are there....and dont worry about others... i can assure.. whether nomerci or qatarisun.. they all might be repairing their cars there only.. if they own 1...

again i pity u and qatarisun... now that u have no words u have resorted to abusive and offensive ....

read u status "Respond intelligently even to unintelligent treatment"

ur doing exactly the opposite...

ur "Responding unintelligently even to intelligent treatment"

iammelon...dont fret... pple when they get cornered they tend to go abusive and they think this is best practice...

..... weird answers, think twice and read the answer what u typed then, last chance to change, preview and then save, even after that if fup then edit... redo...

now coming to ur comment, now that u have poke ur nose,let me help u breath ....

so firstly u agree to the fact...that the quality of construction here is bad...

secondly, y do u employ such highly paid pple, who will supervise a third grade finish to a first class paper work...get a cost effective person from the top to bottom itself...

so u agree that the showcasing should be good, what ever the contents is ....

read and repeat reading till u understand...

.. Zig-Zag towers were burning twice, while were still under constraction.. no need for earthquakes here... we will shake it and destroy it from inside, without external help ..:)

Qatarisun, spot on.

Zuzo , puzzo, rizzo or whoever you are ,QS is a very, very skilled professional in the area we are talking about. You , obviously, are not. so please do us all a favour and put your verbal diarrhea in the toilet, not on QL.

Oh, and the same goes for the fruit.

so, here you go, frenchie..

Yes nomerci, Uranus, Qatarisun. Craftsmanship is far superior in the West. I fret every time I think of how mechanics in the industrial area repair cars. Five poorly trained mechanics without the proper equipment do not substitute for one good one with proper equipment. Most building have a thin veneer of glitter on top of developing-world structure. I hope earthquakes never come here.

Ha ha! Rizzo.

Qatarisun--well put.

iammelonhead-father--A free piece of advice for you. Use your Rizzo account. And feel free to chime in once you have finished school, have a job, and have experienced life in the working world.

@nomerci--I agree that the workmanship, particularly the detailing, in construction is abysmal. I look around the villas, hotels, etc. and see huge investments in quality materials but minimal investment in installation and upkeep. That is what makes me nervous about the new underground rail system. They will spend a fortune buying the best track and trains, and hire famous architects to design the station with imported marble, but the guy driving the train and the guy on maintenance will get less than 2k a month.

zozo, no need to be pity, I will answer you on that one. It’s not that “manager in west does not make good money to make him happy”.. he actually does. But companies in qatar are willing to pay more than this manager makes back home, to encourage him to leave his comfortable life and to relocate to qatar. Now, keep in mind, that highly-qualified laborer/worker in west makes also good money. It can be anything between US$4,000 (QAR.14,000) to US$7000-8000(QAR.24,000-27,000) a month, or even more. To make such laborer relocating to Qatar, company in qatar again has to pay more than he makes home. It simply not worth it for the companies to pay such salaries to the laborers. They prefer to bring 10 south-asian laborers which will cost QAR2,500 each, instead of 1 westerner. But as I mentioned, a company is willing to pay a good salary to the western manager to ensure smooth completion of the project. So what happens next? Project is completed within short term (due to professionalism of the western manager), but with miserably poor quality (due to semi-professional, barely qualified laborers). In Qatar such quality (or rather lack of it) still can pass.. Why to invest too much in the laborers, when all the company needs is quick turn over of its investment, while “ya’ani, who cares about the quality”?…

clear now?

zuzo--No Western basic laborer would come here due to the wages; ego has little to do with it. The American minimum hourly wage is nearly 30 qr. The average hourly wage for a plumber in the US 72 qr. And yes during the years I worked in the US I found American plumbers to be MUCH more skilled than what I have seen here (admittedly my sample size was small), but then you get what you pay for. Personally I would like to see some companies start bringing in some skilled labor from the West. I would gladly pay higher rates for it. However, I don't work in a sector that hires laborers.

I do think the household labor (maids, etc.) work harder than the equivalent in the US and UK firmly believe they would make a killing with their work ethic if they lived in those countries. I do not blame those families that bring their maids/nannies back with them.

Your math is a bit fuzzy, but I'd agree that Western professional typically receive a base salary about about 1.3 times what they would receive in their home countries. Benefits and tax breaks makes this higher in reality. How much more by percentage are non-Westerners getting. i.e. does the Indian engineer or the Filipino cashier get paid 1.3 times his salary in his home country? My understanding is that they receive an even higher percentage.

absolute right, the question intially which was doing the round was, y the ppl from west get higher salary than pple from east... that was it...

Why would Qataris entice a western construction worker here on 18k plus when they can get them from Asia for 2k?

It does not make any economic sense.

then is this not biasness againt a section of work force... y u have to employ one specific nationality for a specific job and then for other jobs a different nationality... y this difference in thought of hiring. all nationalities have all types of work force... its just that they have still not come out the slavery chain...

y not pay them more like u do to other job categories and encourage them to come here.. one last thing... show an advertisement or an job in classifieds for a blue collar job in the western media, be it any media ... like how its advertised in the other part of the world... more money is always a good bargain....

giving u an example below... read carefully....

converstion rate western currency 1 = GCC 4

western manager in GCC paid 50k/m approx.annually would be 600k,when converted, this would be 150k, but the same in their home country would be getting nothing more than 100k. so apply the same logic and get the labourers...

give them more salary....entice them...

finally, show me an advertisement calling for recruitment of labourers and promising them higher salary....

i bet u will never get it...

And then they wonder about Salary differences...geez.

You are not getting nomerci's point.

When Qatar starts paying construction workers 18,000QR a month, plus benefits, you will see a horde of western construction workers here. And for that price Qataris would not be willing to employ South Asian workers.

A friend of mine is in construction back in the UK; he enquired of me the possibilty of working in Qatar, when I told him of the pay and conditions you can guess what his reaction was!!!

Zuzo, I already answered that question. There are NO Western blue collar workers in Qatar.

They make a lot more money in their home countries than they would be offered here. So they have zero reason to come here.

Isn't that rather obvious??

...keeping flashy status tags does not reflect the depth of the user...

uranus1 & Nomerci... i m still waiting for the question that was addressed to u both....

Eh? I never talked about a "national". I said that Western construction workers would not come here because they make a lot more money in the West than here...as an answer to you saying that they would never work as construction workers out of " ego sense".

Anyway, you all continue with your rant. Won't make a difference though . Maybe using the noggin every now and then would.

seriously... i pity the way u think.... u mean to say manager in west does not make good money to make him happy but but labourer does and hence he is not ready to come here... sad one.. try another one.. i m still waiting for ur response my question...

iammelonhead, there are plenty of Western construction workers in the West.

They do not work here as laboures because here they will not get paid even close to what they make in the West. Has nothing to do with pride, simple economics.

And when you compare how things are built and finished here,you will see huge differences in quality compared to the West.

ur correct, that ego was build by these pple only... they intially hired them without any background chk on very high salaries and then how can the fellow followers come on lower... ur absolutely correct...

Uranus1 and nomerci, both are biased ... . i truly agree with slim8589... ur absolutely right... cannot be done much with it...

by the way, i ask one question to nomerci and uranus1... can u please tell me how many of ur westerners are working in construction comapanies as labourers or garderners or any bluecollar jobs in QATAR or GCC..... or should i say.. did u venture into that direction to hire blue collar workerforce from west and not from east, as they are very well qualified and have significant out of the box ideas ..... give some good reasons and a practical examples.. then i will not post anything further on this subject....

i guess nomerci had said.. a driver from UK will have more manners and work ethics than that of eastern part of the world...

And Uranus, some posts on this very thread show clearly why things are they way they are.

Nomerci--I agree; it emphasizes a different skill set.

Slim--well according to what you've said they are worth as much as people are willing to pay them. Not their fault, but ours for over-valuing them.

Uranus, yes, but education in the West, also furthers problem solving and out of the box thinking.

Nomerci--I see what you are saying: there is a reason for Western success and the Qataris want to replicate it here. And most managers are Western and they want like-thinking people working for them in key positions. I am certainly guilty of the second. I like Western-educated people working for me because we seem to be on the same weave-length. We are also dealing primarily in Western financial environment. Having said that, the majority are not white but have Western degrees and experience, mostly British.

Seriously are you all on a different planet to me? There is no mystery here just simple free market economy combined with greed and human nature.

I am a UK trained teacher and get paid at a rate that is similar to that in the UK but with a bunch of other 'incentives'. I know that there are Indian teachers in the other school in the community who get paid far less than I do because they get paid at a similar rate to back in India but again with 'incentives'.

Is that fair? Of course not, welcome to the real world. The gardeners at my community work longer hours than me, in stifling heat and for 6 days a week and get paid a pittance. Why do they do it? Because it is a job and allows them to send money home. Is that fair? No. Are they being exploited? Of course. Once again, welcome to the real world.

I am only here for the money, I hate the society here but I can't change it any more than I can do anything about orphans living off of food scraps in the worlds poorest countries.

People are paid unfairly here because they can be. A more interesting question to me is why people who do 'meaningless' jobs get paid so much more than people like paramedics, nurses, teachers etc. Are footballers or celebrities 'worth' the money they are paid?

zuzo--Is Aramco even in Qatar? And it sounds like the US companies are cherry-picking the best Indians already. So why would Qatari companies pay top dollar for leftovers?

I am sorry to here about your example of Aramco, but my experience in Qatar has been different.

another ridiculous statement...!

i donot agree with what u have just stated... i have couple of examples where in two candidates both national of the so called super power... applied for the same post in ARAMCO... guess what... one gets better pay and becomes the boss of the other... where as in reality the it should have been the other.... y, cuz of the skin color... although nationality is same.. but looks are different.. by birth he is a national, just becuz they had migrated from india, and his skin color is not the same, he was the best in that university in Chemical Eng. batch and the white was not even an engineer...by qlfcn... all these are fruitless discussions, as far i have seen and experienced, here the mind is SET... Nationality.... skin color... then comes rest...

whereas, in India.. IIT or IIM.. the best of the best.... US companies recruits them on campus interviews and gives them if not better, same salary as thier locally hired best talent...

if i had to say in Hindi, it is GHODA .. GHADA EK HI RACE MAIN BHAAG TEH HAIN YAHAAN...

meaning HORSE AND DONKEY ARE IN THE SAME RACE TRACK AND COMPETING FOR THE SAME TROPHY....

Frenchie, I think it has more to do with mindset. The qualification may be the same, I do believe many Indian unis , as per your example, offer very good education.

And I am sure there are thousands of very qualified people.

But the mindset is different in many cases. People may know what they are doing on a particular scale, but as soon as something is out of the box, things don't work anymore. And that is where the difference comes into play.

Westerners are more likely to figure the problem out and fix it. Other people just leave it and hope nothing bad happens...and if it does, it is not their fault...at least that is what I have experienced and also heard from many people.

Then you have the problem with nepotism...there was a case where a person had to be fired because he only hired and worked with his own people...and that happens in very many places here.

Westerners don not do that kind of thing much...unless they need people with a certain kind of mindset and qualifications.

My opinion out of what I have experienced.

Good point Frenchie. I have met plenty of ethnically Indian people in my field with British qualifications/sometimes citizenship that receive the same salary and perks as whites with similar qualifications.

My sense that it is a combination of things. As said earlier it is about the country of origin, and Qatari companies pay enough to get someone over here. Offering an American the same package as a South Asian gets would get a lot of laughter followed by a rejection. By the same token, offering a South Asian an American package would be a poor bargain, as the company would never need to pay that much. In other words, if the company wants an American it needs to pay, and obviously plenty of companies want that.

Whether or not such prejudices that Westerners really are the premium employees in certain fields is another matter entirely. Personally, I go out of my way to hire Western-educated people for my team at work (regardless of country of origin or race). Some of the best members of my team have been South Asians with British qualifications and experience. I would never hire an American or a Brit as a maid or janitor because they would not take the job seriously and would feel cheated and demeaned by the work.

OK, but are Westerners better qualified? Are there cases with say two men have the same qualifications from the same university in the States and then one is paid less because his passport is Indian whereas the other guy's passport is Australian?

Or are you saying two guys are engineers and one went to Texas A&M and another has a degree from and Indian university. Both engineers, but paid differently. If that is the case, that is hardly racism. Instead it is the supposition that American and European universities produce better qualified professionals.

I think we need to be more clear here.

Agreed Zuzo and gudone, A very non-sense and irrelevant examaple was given by nomerci.

It's nothing to deal with qualification rather its all about Nationality, color and language. Local are impressed not with their work but influence and impressed by western culture and living style.

no doubt

Expatriates paid by NATIOnality not ability

Reason : Racism..

frenchie, no, it's ok. One has to deal with what one can get. As simple as that.

Zuzo, there is...but you can't see...yet another example as to why differences are made.

Most definately by nationality...not so much about your qualification or experience

... change ur tag line... there is no intelligence in the answer u provided... totally non sensical... irrelavant example... and honestly so far in my past 20 yr in gulf, have i seen a westerner a driver...? give relevant examples and be more practical... come out of ur shell... think more practical and be INTELLIGENT...

Sounds like you need a new driver.

well, let's see here.

If I hire , for example, a driver from the UK, this driver will have certain qualifications.

1. He will know where he is going, or, if not, he will find out, by himself, BEFORE actually getting into the car.

2. He will take care of the car. If there is something he does not know how to do, he will find out. By himself.

3.He will open the door for his employer, and close it.

4. He will make sure that the environment, in this case the car, is pleasant to be in for his employer.

5. He will always be on time and available for his employer, as agreed in the contract.

Just a few points .

Now, if I hire a driver in Qatar,he,

1. will not know where he is going, despite telling his employer the opposite and furthermore expecting his employer to guide him.

2.He will not be able to take care of the car, leaving this to his employer .

3.Being curteous , as in opening or closing car dorrs, is not understood, even if reminded of frequently.

4. The car environment is none of his concern, in some cases discomfort to the employer is caused by the driver.

5.Being on time has to be constantly re or enforced.

Just a few differences why a driver from the UK , where certain qualifications are a must,would be paid much more than a driver from another place where these qualifications may not be seen as important.

And this is just one example, that of a driver.

There are many more professions where this exact same thing is applicable.

It is all about who the 'locals' want.

None of us can do anything about that.

to make this issue short...ITS ALL ABOUT RACISM!

WK--isn't that the whole premise behind hiring domestic servants and labourers here? If they were paid real wages, we'd all have to wash our own cars and dishes.

sh*t happens...i am of dual nationality, so i should be paid twice.

So McWinter you are saying that we should all exploit the unfortunate ones?

Well said, I agree. If you see someone starving, you should hire him as your slave for a few bucks. After all its better for that person to get exploited by you than to starve.

The rate of the salary is based on each employee's country of origin. Why? GCC countries like Qatar cannot offer lower salary to expat which are from countries which belongs to 1st world country because it would hinder those nationals to work. The reason for that is why they would work abroad if they can earn better in their homeland given the fact that you will adjust with Qatar culture, climate, working enviroment, and lifestyle where in your own country you can fully enjoy and theres no adjustment needed.

If you are from 3rd world country which you are deprived to have a better pay or chances of unemployment will take whatever Qatar could offer rather than inadequate salary or worse face unemployment.

Simple as that.

Why blame or bother about westerners, white or red guys for the above policy. What is more disturbing is the asians and the ones from the south in particular are more busy abusing and back stabbing their own people and trying to fill organizations and depts with their own black and brown brothers and mostly are in their own petty minded dream world

Came here cause the salary was attractive but more importantly work out here gives you more time for your family/extra curricular activities. Didn't bother about the salary disparity cause I was happy. My salary now has multiplied over 4 times in the last 4 years - get much more than the PCI of Qatar. I'm still happy as I was with the first salary I was receiving.

The point is - companies look for value from employees. If they get it from a western expat, they'll pay him/her their demands. If an Asian delivers value - his/her salary will equal/exceed western pay packages over time. Last year I know a company who restructured - around 60 % of the staff were shown the boot - quite a lot of them westerners with handsome pay packages.

Give value to the company and you deserve what you get. Never bother what you neighbor gets :-) Quality is dependent on the individual - you cannot always generalise.

sorry double post...typing on a touchscreen is a nightmare...

Well the Westerners sure get paid a high salary in the GCC irrespective of their qualification but in their own countries, the Asians get a good salary.

No one can blame the Westerners for this because this happens only in these parts of the world I guess, and the GCC countries are ready to pay what they ask for.

why deep inside.. they know it and they feel proud of it... this is nothing to be ashamed of... we as the expats should be ashamed of ourself... who left our homeland for few peanuts more... we have come to this mirage... and eventuality is we have to go back there... either on our feet or on someone's shoulder... we dont even get properly treated even after dying to for them.... this is not just a passing comment, i have seen it... hence i have mentioned it...

... i faced this issue.. while i was being interviewed... the salary offered to me was way out the peer group i have known... mixed of nationalities... when questioned the answer given to my friend in a very friendly manner was...... ur country xyz.... so exchange rate is... QAR 1 = XYZ currency 15... so u multiply this and see... will u earn so much in ur country no na.. then y ask more... for pple in west...

WEST currency 1 = QAR 4... now u divide the salary... its is less na... then... y give less.. and they are use to living high standards... not like u.. where u can adjust 10 ppl in 1 room....

so asians are branded as herd who can live and be happy in cogested areas and adjust to anything.. whereas the other party are not...

now u pple decide...All these things are factored...

NATIONALITY...SKIN COLOR.... GENDER... then probably ur qualification....

and as far as comment by QATARSUN... no comments for his naive statement....

all qataries are overly paid. INCUDING QATARISUN!!AND HE KNOWS IT DEEP INSIDE.MAJORITY KNOWWS ONLY TO SIGN,IF THEY HAVE TIME TO.....

A guy from a country in South Asia gets 10,000 QAR per month.

He applies for and gets his Canadian citizenship and his salary increases 3 times.

I know a few people like that and I think everyone knows atleast one such case in Qatar.

The person in question doesn't live in Canada and has no plans to ever live there. He is just using that passport.

Still the salary is not influenced by nationality?

good ques

As per nationality. Everyone who is from the "higher" salary receiving nationalities will come here and say that this is fair and everyone knew their salary beforehand. Everyone who is from the "lesser" salary receiving countries will say this is unfair that they do all the work and get much less pay.

What I think.... Hmmmmmmm let me say that majority of the people I came across in professional capacity in the gulf are not paid as per their ability. Those who deserve more, get very less and those who deserve peanuts are paid huge sums of money. There is a minority who are being paid as per their ability.

French, sample. We hired some Indian company to develop one huge project based on SAP platform. 29 people were working on this project from India. By the time we realized, they are good in quite routine work up to some level. When it came to "polishing", " refining", "high-end finishing", and "glamour", they became helpless. There was no glitter in their job, no clear lines no final magic touch... they couldn't perform as per highest western standards, not because they are bad or stupid, but simply because they r not familiar with them. Guess what, we gave up and hired Canadian company for double price.

I am sure, put same 29 people to work in some London high-end company for 6 months, they would see the difference in their performance by themselves!

...yes, They do the same job. They even work harder and longer hours. They don't get the same result though...

But the MAIN thing is that's what they agreed about. Difference is that in your case, the company is offering you a job.. In their case they are offering themselves to the company. By the way I know quite a few indians who are holding high posts, who are extremely intelligent, highly educated and fine people. But due to supply/demand situation, thousands and thousands of Indians are more than happy to get ANY job, they accept sometimes clearly unfair offer. But this is their choice. In this case Indian government is to be blamed for failing to provide their own people with decent life style...another factor is cost of living in your country and in their country. You wouldn't agree to work here for 1000 euro, would you? While 1000 euro for some of them means providing their entire family back home with food and accommodation for whole month...

There are other factors..

This began years ago in Saudi Arabia - By Aramco.

Expats were classified as per their country/region and paid accordingly:

the categories in order of benefits were :

USA

European

Australian/NZ/South african

TCN (Third country nationals)

The logic was that the salaries/benefits were linked to cost of living and lifestyle they were used to.

this has perpetuated more or less to this day. Although things are changing and Qatar is not as bad as Saudi or Kuwait.

one last thing... There is also a slight variation in salary/benefits according to colour.

Less said the better

Country's cost of living is one of their reason for unfair salary rate, and the other one is racism.

Well, terse comments aside; let me put it in most simple words.

1) If a Westerner / European is offered a salary of say US$ 5000 per months (just exemplary); he will for sure refuse becuase, he is getting the same or more in his country; OR even if not, it is difficult for him to maintain a decent livelihood back home. He will turn down the offer.

Whereas, if you offer the same salary US$ 5000 to an ASIAN (no specific nationality being pointed out here so no need to get hurt); he will be jumping out of his shoes. This will be a very good salary for him and he will come running.

So, in short, the hiring people are aware of the facts and situations back home for most nationalities and hence act accordingly.

Its all as per simple basic laws of Economics.

Nothing to worry for you FrenchMan, U enjoy your time here. Just don't look down upon any Nationality.

Qatarisun,,,thats one of the lamest responses I have seen on any public forum.

It is widespread.

Locals prefer whites coz they think thats their country will look westernized if they have more whites than Asians.

I think neither of these two. I guess they paid based on the agreement between them and Company. I am almost sure, you were aware of your package prior to accepting the offer. Don't tell me that you didn't know your salary until you started working! this would be a BS!

I'll take because I am the overpaid white guy, but I am just wondering why and if it is widespread.

Racism. To put it straight.

Take it or leave it.

But why?

By Nationality.