The growing trend among some government employees to seek early retirement is an obstacle for Qatarisation and a waste of resources, local Arabic daily Al Sharq has reported, quoting officials and experts.

Khalifa al-Khulaifi, director of the retirement department at the General Retirement and Social Insurance Authority, attributes such early retirement to factors such as retirement salary and other benefits as well as being able to get engaged in businesses or other activities, the report states.

According to last year’s statistics, 8,321 Qatari civil service employees retired – an increase of 341 over the 2012 figures, al-Khulaifi adds.

Early retirements are an obstacle in the quest for Qatarisation of jobs as well as a waste of resources, he said.

Experts stressed that this trend also involved a loss of talent as well as state funding of education and training, according to the report.

An investor said early retirement might result in a number of financial, psychological and family problems.

However, some other citizens said while this trend had a lot of negative effects, many retirees felt that the work environment was not suitable and they faced marginalisation and unfair treatment when it came to promotion and recognition, the report further states.