Similar views of entrepreneurism as an ideal job role were reflected in Saudi Arabia (37%) and Oman (34%). However, only 11% of Emiratis surveyed viewed ‘running my own business’ as an ideal role.
The military served as the top job for Qataris, with 46% of respondents considering a military role to be their ideal job.
“This inclination towards entrepreneurism in Qatar can help to transition Qataris away from public sector roles and towards private sector enterprises,” the report said.
The report findings reveal the following innovative employment strategies for entrepreneurs and future private sector business leaders in Qatar:
Help Qatari entrepreneurs make money for themselves. The majority (58%) of Qataris listed money as a top motivator, with helping the country/society (57%) serving as the next closest motivator. Yet it is interesting that such a high percentage of Qataris consider entrepreneurism to be their ideal job role.
Rather than simply increase public and private sector wages, Oxford recommends that the government should provide additional, targeted support for budding Qatari entrepreneurs, including perhaps government employees themselves.
Focus on the 6% of entrepreneurs who actually contribute to employment growth. In order to maximise the investment in entrepreneurism, high-potential entrepreneurs who actually contribute to employment growth, known as ‘Gazelles’, should be identified and supported by the government. Providing seed funding and early support for these high-potential Qatari entrepreneurs is much more cost-effective than employing the equivalent public sector employees for an entire career.
Oxford’s previous research has started to identify the key personal characteristics of these ‘Gazelles’.
Develop natural business leaders for private sector roles. A further 27% of Qatari respondents considered the government / public sector to be their least favoured industry. While there remains a high demand for public sector roles, these findings suggest a growing constituency moving away from the public sector.
These Qataris should be groomed for private sector roles by receiving globally recognised professional qualifications, such as those from the Chartered Management Institute (CMI) and the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD). Defence and security (49%), oil and gas (41%) and banking and finance (29%) also served as popular employment sectors for Qataris.
Listen to Qataris to create effective employment campaigns. Oxford believes that any employment campaign must take into account the actual employment preferences of Qatari job seekers.
Here, Oxford’s report found that female nationals were significantly more pessimistic than males about the difficulty of getting a job. Moreover, Qatari women were three times more likely than men to consider ‘not knowing how to apply for a job’ as a significant difficulty when sourcing employment.
