Rising demand for unskilled labor in Qatar and Saudi Arabia to fuel huge infrastructure projects may cause manpower shortages elsewhere in the region, a new report finds.

That shortage will likely cause the cost of building projects to rise in the UAE, the 2012 International Construction Costs Report by EC Harris asserts.

On the bright side, the fact that GCC countries are even launching new projects is a measure of their economic strength, the report states.

Arabian Business reports:

Mathew Riley, group head of Cost and Commercial at EC Harris said: “Those countries that are least constrained by debt problems are continuing to invest in construction activities to help fuel their continued growth.”

In markets like Qatar and Canada where capital investment has been focused on long-term infrastructure projects, there will be a sustained pipeline of work which is likely to see construction costs rise even further on both a short and medium term basis.”

Whether rising costs will translate into higher salaries for the unskilled laborers, hailing mainly from Asia, has yet to be seen.

Thoughts?

Credit: Photo by Omar Chatriwala