Policy-Making in the GCC by Neil Quilliam Mark C. Thompson

Author:Neil Quilliam, Mark C. Thompson [Neil Quilliam, Mark C. Thompson]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781784538842
Barnesnoble:
Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic
Published: 2017-10-30T00:00:00+00:00

The first and most critical impact has been attitudinal in terms of how national talent is understood or, more often, misunderstood. GCC nationals typically suffer from stereotypes in the workplace, both positive and negative. Regarding the former, national talent tends to get preferential priority with regard to recruitment or accelerated career opportunities through policies of positive discrimination. Over time, this positive discrimination has encouraged a sense of entitlement and expectation in the workplace, effectively reducing the individual's incentives to invest the consistent effort required to enhance their own performance and productivity. However, on the other hand, research by The Talent Enterprise18 indicates that more subtle negative perceptions and biases are rife in terms of undermining their self-confidence and perceptions of their relative lack of contribution, particularly in the private sector. There is a general lowering of expectations with regard to national talent, both within their own community and also amongst expatriate counterparts. Both outcomes are regrettable and need to be addressed as a matter of urgency.

Rigid segmentation in the labour market has led to a world where national talent typically occupy most public sector jobs or have most representation in corporate support roles. Although on paper this may reflect 10 per cent, 20 per cent and even 50 per cent nationalisation, it is key to ensure that national talent is encouraged to take on more technical or core business roles. This of course is a direct outcome of the education system, where most GCC national graduates currently have a liberal arts, humanities, religious studies or general management degree, or none. Also, in many cases the representation of GCC nationals largely remains at the entry or supervisory level positions, with relatively few demonstrating the willingness to advance to the most senior technical or functional positions in the private sector. National talent report a degree of ‘tokenism’, in particular within the private sector.19

Another consequence has been the emergence of ‘rent-seeking’ behaviour amongst the local population as a result of a quota-driven approach and the highly segmented labour markets of the GCC, where those positions largely attractive to or reserved for locals often require rival employers to compete intensely to attract and retain scarce national talent. Simply stated, the economic ‘rent’ is the value of the wages earned over and above that necessary to keep workers in their current employment. Due to the nationalisation agenda and a lower population base, nationals have been able to command a premium in terms of wages and benefits. Further, this approach has been adopted as a socially acceptable means of distributing economic rents by the government to its local population (and to some extent amongst expatriates as well) as a way of preserving social stability and indeed harmony for many decades. Historically, and on average, nationals typically command a premium of 20–30 per cent in terms of wages and benefits.20

The pay premiums and wage increments across the GCC's public sector have increased wage inflation across all industries in the region. Unlike the rest of the world, it

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