Wanted: specialist construction experience

DSI chief corporate affairs officer Zeina Tabari.

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Growth outside Dubai and the need to export skills and experience to other areas are changing the face of human-resource management in the construction industry, says Drake & Scull International PJSC (DSI) chief corporate affairs officer Zeina Tabari.

“I think it is easier than it was three years ago. Last year we managed to hire quite a lot of people. This year I believe we will continue to hire, but specific trades. Of course, with [the Dubai market] shrinking, we plan on moving [our accumulated talent] to other markets.

“So we will not be hiring everyone from the open market. We will be using the resources we have, because a lot of our people have been with us five years, even ten years, and some have been here since 1989. So mobilising that talent is very important,” says Tabari.

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Tabari says there is a growing need to target specific skills, such as project managers with airport or high-rise experience. Other capabilities that are in demand are technology, water and wastewater and telecoms, as well as, surprisingly, financial and HR.

This is because business management and planning are such key priorities for the construction industry at present, says Tabari. Another problem is convincing people to work abroad outside of Dubai, in areas as far afield as Saudi Arabia and Oman, especially if it means they will be away from their families for extended periods.

“Sometimes it is simply easier to hire from abroad. In markets like Qatar, you can transfer certain nationalities. Certain nationalities have restrictions, so it is very difficult. Hence it is easier to hire from outside. Saudi has similar issues, such as transferring females," says Tabari.

Read the full interview with Zeina Tabari in the June issue of MEP Middle East.