There will be 2 primary drivers causing economic slowdown in Qatar. Both caused by the Global financial crisis.
First, there will be a fairly significant decrease in inward investment from abroad. This will be the primary risk for employment in Qatar, particularly at a time when the country's starting to open up competition. An example is Vodafone - there will be less such entrants as there would have been, which will impact job creation.
Second, domestically local firms in Construction, property development, tourism and energy are still well funded. However the cost of equity for investment has risen due to a perceived increase in risk aswell as the opportunity returns from other geographical investments. In the GCC the cost of Debt has also risen (contrary to the western world). More significantly availability of debt has greatly reduced. Where projects could be funded up to 70% or 80% debt, leverage ratios are now down to 50% / 60%. The diminished availability of capital, coupled with the increased cost of capital will mean there will be a decline in the volume of domestic projects and as margins will be tighter, projects will have to deliver using less resources than before. This is currently having an impact on the existing employment base and will not improve until the availability of debt improves (which could take over a year).
To be positive however, Qatar is a very resource wealthy nation, which will further improve the mining and distribution of it's energy resources into the future. The Economist has recently forecast 12% GDP growth for 2009 in Qatar. In other words Qatar will be the worlds fastest growing economy in 2009. If you can't find a good job in Qatar, perhaps your skills don't suit the relatively narrow diversification in the economy. But if you are in Real Estate, commercial banking, energy etc, then you have a better chance of gaining unemployment here that anywhere else.
There will be 2 primary drivers causing economic slowdown in Qatar. Both caused by the Global financial crisis.
First, there will be a fairly significant decrease in inward investment from abroad. This will be the primary risk for employment in Qatar, particularly at a time when the country's starting to open up competition. An example is Vodafone - there will be less such entrants as there would have been, which will impact job creation.
Second, domestically local firms in Construction, property development, tourism and energy are still well funded. However the cost of equity for investment has risen due to a perceived increase in risk aswell as the opportunity returns from other geographical investments. In the GCC the cost of Debt has also risen (contrary to the western world). More significantly availability of debt has greatly reduced. Where projects could be funded up to 70% or 80% debt, leverage ratios are now down to 50% / 60%. The diminished availability of capital, coupled with the increased cost of capital will mean there will be a decline in the volume of domestic projects and as margins will be tighter, projects will have to deliver using less resources than before. This is currently having an impact on the existing employment base and will not improve until the availability of debt improves (which could take over a year).
To be positive however, Qatar is a very resource wealthy nation, which will further improve the mining and distribution of it's energy resources into the future. The Economist has recently forecast 12% GDP growth for 2009 in Qatar. In other words Qatar will be the worlds fastest growing economy in 2009. If you can't find a good job in Qatar, perhaps your skills don't suit the relatively narrow diversification in the economy. But if you are in Real Estate, commercial banking, energy etc, then you have a better chance of gaining unemployment here that anywhere else.