Qatarization and intrinsic versus extrinsic motivation

Young people in Qatar have it pretty good.The starting salary for young Qataris is somewhere in the range of $120,000 per year. And that's only the beginning. If you include subsidized loans from the government for housing, allowances for housing from most employers, free education and health care, the $120,000 for your average 22 year old with a degree is just for spending. Now, spend it they do, and that's part of the reason for the 60% wage increase that was seen in Sept 2011. It helped compensate for the increased levels of debt and spending by the Qatari population. So, everything's great, right? Sure, unlike other Middle East economies, unemployment is not a problem (see below). Only young women (who are often exclusively looking for government jobs), face even double digit unemployment (compared to the regional average of 26% for 15-29 year olds.) But not so fast. When something is no longer scarce, it becomes less valuable. So, when Qataris go out on the job market, sometimes they get job offers without employers even interviewing them or even looking at their CV and when employers want a second or third interview, it's seen as an insult. When a manager doesn't offer the kind of opportunities that a Qatari expects (especially an expatriate manager), then the Qatari suspects that the manager is trying to thwart the local's career, so the Qatari doesn't take the manger's job.

So, what do young people value? It ends up, when you have a ton of money, you want other things. And not material things. Instead, respect, interest in your personal development, and flexibility matter. In focus group interviews with dozens of young Qataris, my research team and I found that what young Qataris really want is for firms to take their fully human capacity as their concern and work with them to develop it. Some Qataris get a bad rap because of work ethic or other behavioral competencies, but these are largely created by the institutions that exist. There is little opportunity to volunteer or participate in extra curricular activities that help develop these behavioral competencies and there is little understanding at an early age of the full range of skills that are valued in the job market.