Hardship packages needed for top talent

An HR director for a leading contractor has announced they are looking at reinstating ‘hardship’ allowances in order to attract top talent back to the Gulf.

Speaking at the Construction Week Conference in Dubai, Halcrow HR director Rhyan Anderson said that redundancies in the region had rendered markets such as Dubai unattractive to expat talent in places such as Europe and the US.

“People are very about coming back over to the Gulf,” she said. “They’ve had the experience of having to pay 12 months’ rent in advance. They know that because of the employment law, they’re exposed to more personal risk. We expect to have to go back to hardship allowances and finding creative packages into key roles.”

Anderson said that contractors would need to start looking at interim contracts, currently used frequently in Europe, in order to prove security for workers.

“Interim contracts have never really been used here before, but the idea of a job for life has gone for good now,” she said. “Those interim contracts will need to include things like accommodation packages.”