There is a feeling among some employers that the job market for engineers is “oversupplied” at present.
This comes at a time when there are restrictions on hiring in several companies and opportunities are limited, say industry insiders.
A look at the “Situation Wanted” segment in the classifieds section of local newspapers shows that many of the aspirants are engineers looking for suitable jobs. Several of them are also posting their CVs on job websites and social networking sites, it is learnt.
“As each day passes, their numbers continue to rise,” said an employer.
Sources say this “oversupply”, along with some other factors, has contributed to a drop in salaries offered to young new recruits, particularly by some construction firms.
“The market is somewhat stagnant and new openings are limited. At the same time, a large number of people are applying for jobs. Simply put, the number of aspirants far exceeds the vacancies. As a result, some employers are able to hire young new recruits – many of whom are desperate – at lower-than-usual salaries,” a source explained.
Responding to queries by Gulf Times, at least two employers who hire engineers at regular intervals stressed that they have enough reason to believe that the market is currently largely “oversupplied”.
One of them said the dip in demand for engineers started a few months ago as some previously announced projects were put on hold.
“In spite of this not-so-impressive scenario, some sources are coming up with misleading and inflated job figures and conflicting reports on the market, claiming that there are growing job opportunities in the engineering sector,” said
the representative of a construction firm involved in the execution of some key infrastructure projects.
“There could still be a demand for exceptionally good and experienced professionals in certain areas, but their numbers are very small,” he added.
Besides these fresh aspirants, there are a number of skilled professionals who are believed to be looking for employment after losing their jobs in some local organisations recently. While some of those who
received the marching orders were able to find alternative employment quickly, many others were still looking for a new job, said sources.
At a recent forum of the region’s engineers in Doha,
some of the speakers expressed doubt if the region’s market for professionals was really growing as claimed by others at the meeting.

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