Qatari citizens working for the government or military were recently given substantial pay rises. A number of private companies have since followed suit, but only for Qatari citizens. Expatriates and Qataris alike feel very strongly about the issue,
Qatar International Islamic Bank (QIIB) has announced it is increasing salaries for Qatari staff by 60 percent – the latest private company to do so after government and military employees received salary increases last month.
Yesterday we posted about Vodafone giving pay rises to its Qatari employees.
| “ | Vodafone gives Qatari staff 60% pay increase, following government moves last month – After Qatar hiked… http://t.co/RUUwPbCL | |||
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Reaction began pouring in after that, with some lauding the move.
| “ | @dohanews congratulations to Vodafone employees | |||
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While others felt it was unfair to only award salary increases to Qatari citizens, and not foreign staff.
| “ | @dohanews nothing for expat? vodafone have 1% qatari staff that why vodafone want to show that he also follow other companies step |
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| “ | @dohanews So we’re going to continue to act like these Qatari pay increases isn’t obscure racism? | |||
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| “ | It appears the pay rises for Qataris continue to strike a chord with expats here | |||
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| “ | Qataris get 60% pay hike to help ease embarrassment of not having their own Arab Spring. Expats get 0%. Less embarrassing for them? | |||
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In the outpouring of responses, some praised the government for taking care of its citizens and expatriates alike, while others argued that it was simply unfair. But who actually receives greater pay – expats or nationals – was a hotly contested issue.
Without argument, though, is the fact that Western expats, Qataris, other Arabs, other Asians and Africans all stand on different pay scales.
We ended up receiving dozens of responses on the pay rise issue, and all are reproduce here:
| “ | @dohanews thats good but what about other people living here in qatar, they dont desire ? insist they are getting a hike in everthing? | |||
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| “ | @dohanews It’s not racism, but the priority should be given to Qataris. | |||
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| “ | @alimsworld @dohanews Racism!? If you don’t like it no one is stopping you from leaving. I’m sure there are many who’d love to have “a” job. | |||
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| “ | @dohanews I don’t see any reason for this, we have been living together happily, don’t the Qataries deserve something from their government? | |||
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| “ | @dohanews اذا ماتنعم القطري في بلاده وين ممكن يتنعم ؟ الحمد لله | |||
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| “ | @dohanews pay hike is only for those in government sector jobs. Qataris in private sector don’t get increase | |||
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| “ | احمدوو ربكم انه أرضنا ضمتكم وتحلمون بنعمة الأمان وبراتب يبني لكم عمارات في بلادكم وبعد حاسدين اهل قطر ع الزيادة! @waheedmughalz @dohanews |
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| “ | @dohanews We all live together as friends, we get happy when the non-qataries get a promotion or raise, because it means they work hard | |||
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| “ | @Mniew Yes Qatari’s should be given priority, If not given in Qatar where else Qataris get. @dohanews | |||
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| “ | @dohanews I have received many messages from non-qataries expressing their happiness for me after the news, not all expats are not happy | |||
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| “ | @dohanews I don’t know why they are complaining? they receive much more than Qataries do even with the pay raises! #ungrateful | |||
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| “ | @alimsworld @dohanews why is it racism? Qatari gov’t is helping its citizens out. Expats can demand compensation from their gov’ts. | |||
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| “ | @dohanews foreigners had 200% increase when they first signed their contracts. | |||
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| “ | @IvanGiesbrecht @Dohanews Qatar is living its best era ever, so its already Spring here. Actualy it can’t get (cont) http://t.co/vabEWgRs | |||
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| “ | @dohanews hard to complain, we came here happy to receive what was on offer. On the other hand, I won’t be happy about inflation consequence | |||
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| “ | @dohanews This is our country and where else would we be taken care of. We are very blessed to have Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani | |||
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| “ | @dohanews Expats are also taken care of in Qatar, with many opportunities you rarely find around the globe. | |||
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| “ | Good discussion on the pay hikes for Qataris. We’ll put together everyone’s thoughts and post it online tomorrow. | |||
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| “ | @QatarYogini @dohanews not to mention higher salaries than Qataris to start with! | |||
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| “ | @QatarYogini Definitely is one of the best place to work for expats, salary package always impressive and better place to live @dohanews | |||
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| “ | @dohanews I think u should emphasize how good people’s lives become when u live in Qatar. Once u live in here its hard to live anywhere else | |||
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| “ | @QatarYogini true! i never want to leave this country even offered double salary else where. @dohanews | |||
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| “ | @dohanews If only other countries looked after their citizens as well as Qatar does. | |||
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| “ | @BintAlRifai That’s a big myth. Most Qataris get paid more than expatriate counterparts. @dohanews recently posted an article to back it up. | |||
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| “ | @IvanGiesbrecht @dohanews the pay hike was planned far before the Arab Spring occurred. Not a cause & effect scenario. | |||
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| “ | @Vallath @dohanews Not a myth. Expats get paid more than Qataris. I know that for a fact. | |||
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| “ | @BintAlRifai http://t.co/H4VG2Iyn | |||
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| “ | @dohanews Pay should be based on qualifications, not nationality. It should strike a chord with anyone with some sense and an education. | |||
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| “ | @alimsworld @dohanews They can never learn the value of a dollar when they are paid exorbident amounts of money for simple jobs. | |||
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| “ | @vallath @dohanews Hay group credibility is tainted. Agree with @BintAlRifai I’ve had a pretty good look & it’s expats who get paid more. | |||
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| “ | @HamadK7 @vallath @dohanews why else would expats come work and live in Qatar if it weren’t for attractive salaries? | |||
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| “ | @vallath @dohanews @bintalrifai a like for like comparison is leaving a gaping hole in that study. | |||
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| “ | @HamadK7 @vallath @dohanews the dohanews sum up of the report is not necessarily reflective of the actual summary of report. | |||
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| “ | @BintAlRifai @vallath @dohanews previous work gave me exposure to this aspect. Not talking out of thin air. | |||
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| “ | The issue with selective pay rises is that price inflation triggered by said pay rises does not apply selectively @dohanews | |||
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| “ | @HamadK7 @vallath @dohanews likewise. i started off in doha as an expat. and now I am a qatari. | |||
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| “ | @BintAlRifai @hamadk7 @vallath @dohanews sadly big difference between “western” expats and “non-western” expats | |||
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| “ | @BintAlRifai @vallath @dohanews glad you can see it from both sides! | |||
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| “ | @solar_omy @bintalrifai @vallath @dohanews completely true. #blueeyesyndrome | |||
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| “ | @solar_omy @hamadk7 @vallath @dohanews yes that is a whole different story altogether. arab expats get paid less, then qataris, then western | |||
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| “ | @QatarYogini @dohanews once u lived in qatar with full love &respect 2this land & it’s people,u r living in our hearts & welcomed2 ur homes | |||
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| “ | @BintAlRifai Not to forget the ‘sub-expat’ species-Asians. I was referring to the avg expat. Not specifically any race before. @dohanews | |||
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| “ | @BintAlRifai @Vallath @dohanews thats not true qataris get 3 time higher than expats and work less thats racism | |||
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| “ | @ali_77799 @Vallath @dohanews what you just said about Qataris is racist. | |||
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| “ | @Mniew @dohanews its racsim coz they more than us and all work on us | |||
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| “ | @ILUVLIT @alimsworld @dohanews another racist bigot barking. |
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| “ | @dohanews if I’m not too late, I don’t think this is racism – its their country. Above that, I’m sure pay rises will increase to expats also | |||
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| “ | @dohanews (Follow up) this is because of inflation, if people actually studied economics, they’d know that this pay rise is a domino effect | |||
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