A slowdown in the construction industry, delayed payments from contractors and reduced workforce at major sites have hit a number of manpower supply firms in the country.
Most construction companies rely on workforce from manpower suppliers only as a last resort and also when the deadline for completing a particular project is running short.
The project director of a major construction group said his firm’s general policy was not to entertain manpower suppliers as their charges were quite high. Inquiries found that most contractors delayed in their payments, usually between three and four months, to manpower suppliers and it had affected the functioning of the firms badly. “Unless, one has adequate capital, it is extremely difficult to run a business of this kind,” said a manpower supplier.
When pointed that most manpower suppliers paid very low salaries to their workers even though they received higher remuneration from their clients, a firm owner complained that outsiders saw things from one side only. “How many of those levelling charges understand that we need to pay salaries to our staff even if they remain without work,” he asked. The supplier said small firms like his could survive only because of the “relatively higher margin” that they took from contractors.
An Asian manpower supplier said that there was a considerable slowdown in the construction sector in the country in the past one year. “There is a clear fall in demand for workers and many of our clients have reduced their workforce. As a result, we have been forced to send a number of our workers home during the last six months.”
He also pointed that the delay in payments from their clients had hit his company’s operations hard. “While payments used to be paid to us in three or four months by our clients, nowadays there are several cases where contractors delay payments by six months and even more.”
Industry sources said that only very few new projects were approved these days. “Also, most contractors have their own workers,” said a senior manager of a construction firm. “Because of these factors, there is less demand for workforce from manpower agencies.”
Manpower firms mushroomed in Qatar starting from 2001, with the demand for workers reaching its zenith in the two years prior to the Doha Asian Games in December 2006.