It’s about labor again. I recently met a Bangali who works for a hotel as a casual housekeeping attendant. He is actually Public Area attendant, one who takes care all public areas in a hotel, cleaning glass windows, or mopping floors of the lobby. He is not in charge for guest rooms. He does not make up rooms.
What’s not fair?
He spent BD1,500 to get working visa in Bahrain. He’s entitled 2 year permit. He’s paid BD10 a day, it means he earns BD240 a month. It’s pretty good pay? Wait..! He has to pay his flat, water, electricity, meal and of course sending money home.
Let’s calculate. For housing, he spends a sharing flat for let say BD50 a month. Then water and electricity will be additional BD10, and then meal for BD40 a month. Don’t forget, since he has a landlord or agent who arranged his employment, including job placement in different places, he has to pay for the agent fee at least BD25. So, total take home pay will be only BD115 a month.
In a year (12 month), he can safe BD1,380. This amount is still not enough to pay back the “visa” or “entrance fee” which is BD1,500. I have no idea whether this amount is legal or not, but one thing I really don't get is that within 2 years he can only safe BD1,260 net. As a conclusion, he spends 1,500 and sacrifices his two years working very hard for only BD1,260.
To extend another 2 years “working visa” he has to invest again BD1,000. This means, within 2 years, he gets only BD260 net to safe and I still have no clue how he pays for his flight ticket. I really don’t understand since it’s just not fair!
Saturday, July 4, 2009
Friday, May 22, 2009
Another 4 Reasons Why Bahrainis Don’t Want Hotel Jobs
In the posting earlier, I explained reasons why most Bahrainis are not interested in hotel job from socio-cultural perspective. Here I would like to add some more reasons from socio-economic factors. Enjoy reading...
Wage and Remuneration are the first and the main consideration for Bahraini to take up a job. According to my interview with Dr. Yahya, a lecturer in Tourism Department, Bahrain University, Labour in travel and tourism sector receive low salaries as compared to other jobs. According to Arabia Business survey (GFI, April 2008; p26 – p30), more than two-thirds of workers in GCC consider that they are underpaid, and the worst paid are workers in the travel industry, tourism, hospitality and agriculture sectors with over half earning less than $35,000 a year, and the most common salary range in the survey was $20,000 to $35,000.
Hotel companies are not able to create enough jobs which satisfy the expectations of many medium to high skill Bahrainis. Meanwhile, in the low skill job segment also do not meet the expectations of low skill Bahrainis. Wage expectations are not met, primary because wage levels are set by living conditions, where over half of correspondent (of the survey), mostly Bahrainis, said that inflation had outpaced wage increases. The rising cost of living is the number-one reason why people eventually want to change their employment.
Private sector wages have risen very little during Bahrain’s economic boom, and in some cases expatriate wages have actually fallen. Central bank figures show that the average wage for non-Bahraini men has fallen BD 2 from BD 163 to BD 161 per month over the past five years, and the average for all private sector workers has risen only BD7 in the same period, from BD 221 to BD 228. In the public sector, in contrast, wage increases have been substantial, up from an average of BD 597 to BD 705.
Central Bank figures show that average wage for Bahrainis in the private sector is almost three times that of non-Bahrainis. (Please read main report GFI Magazine “How to get more Bahrainis working in the private sector?” Issue December 2007, page 26 to 30)
Competitiveness; Most Bahrainis in low and medium wage segment cannot compete with expatriate labourers who are much cheaper and perceived to be more productive. Expatriates who generally receive lower salary will make difficult for Bahrainis to compete for the current and event future employment. This issue was admitted by the former head of economist of Bahrain University as a serious problem of the country.
Background as a wealthy oil-producer country. There is a view in Bahrain that the Bahraini workforce no longer wanted to do these lower level jobs, perhaps because they were now too wealthy. Before the oil boom, Bahrainis were cooks, cleaners, construction workers, and held all manner of the jobs in the economy. After the boom, they did not. The question is why.
Consider other countries in the world where per capita incomes and the wealth of the working classes are considerably above that of Bahrain, such as the Scandinavian countries. In a country like Norway, a country with oil resources equivalent to Bahrain, there are still plenty of Norwegian cooks, plenty of Norwegian construction workers, janitors, etc. Why is it that in these other countries, workers who are much wealthier than Bahraini’s are still interested in doing these jobs?
Problem in Communication. Related to the first problem in socio-cultural factors, there is actually problem with communication and awareness of the industry. The government seemed does not pay more attention to take care of the sector in terms of promoting and encouraging locals to take job in hotel industry.
There is no any board or institution from the government who concerns on the image and awareness of for example, benefits of working as an hotelier. The government does not give proper understanding about the area of hotel jobs, for example there are several options and different types of positions available in a hotel or restaurant. If somebody is not really keen to fill a job where he/she has to deal with guest directly, there are still varied positions in back office that he/she does not necessary contact with guests directly.
Moreover, the government should highlight that there are lots of interesting benefits to take career within the industry. There is opportunity for Bahrainis to compete in high level management where they will obtain lots of attractive benefits, such as high salaries, housing, health insurance, international mobility and so on.
Wage and Remuneration are the first and the main consideration for Bahraini to take up a job. According to my interview with Dr. Yahya, a lecturer in Tourism Department, Bahrain University, Labour in travel and tourism sector receive low salaries as compared to other jobs. According to Arabia Business survey (GFI, April 2008; p26 – p30), more than two-thirds of workers in GCC consider that they are underpaid, and the worst paid are workers in the travel industry, tourism, hospitality and agriculture sectors with over half earning less than $35,000 a year, and the most common salary range in the survey was $20,000 to $35,000.
Hotel companies are not able to create enough jobs which satisfy the expectations of many medium to high skill Bahrainis. Meanwhile, in the low skill job segment also do not meet the expectations of low skill Bahrainis. Wage expectations are not met, primary because wage levels are set by living conditions, where over half of correspondent (of the survey), mostly Bahrainis, said that inflation had outpaced wage increases. The rising cost of living is the number-one reason why people eventually want to change their employment.
Private sector wages have risen very little during Bahrain’s economic boom, and in some cases expatriate wages have actually fallen. Central bank figures show that the average wage for non-Bahraini men has fallen BD 2 from BD 163 to BD 161 per month over the past five years, and the average for all private sector workers has risen only BD7 in the same period, from BD 221 to BD 228. In the public sector, in contrast, wage increases have been substantial, up from an average of BD 597 to BD 705.
Central Bank figures show that average wage for Bahrainis in the private sector is almost three times that of non-Bahrainis. (Please read main report GFI Magazine “How to get more Bahrainis working in the private sector?” Issue December 2007, page 26 to 30)
Competitiveness; Most Bahrainis in low and medium wage segment cannot compete with expatriate labourers who are much cheaper and perceived to be more productive. Expatriates who generally receive lower salary will make difficult for Bahrainis to compete for the current and event future employment. This issue was admitted by the former head of economist of Bahrain University as a serious problem of the country.
Background as a wealthy oil-producer country. There is a view in Bahrain that the Bahraini workforce no longer wanted to do these lower level jobs, perhaps because they were now too wealthy. Before the oil boom, Bahrainis were cooks, cleaners, construction workers, and held all manner of the jobs in the economy. After the boom, they did not. The question is why.
Consider other countries in the world where per capita incomes and the wealth of the working classes are considerably above that of Bahrain, such as the Scandinavian countries. In a country like Norway, a country with oil resources equivalent to Bahrain, there are still plenty of Norwegian cooks, plenty of Norwegian construction workers, janitors, etc. Why is it that in these other countries, workers who are much wealthier than Bahraini’s are still interested in doing these jobs?
Problem in Communication. Related to the first problem in socio-cultural factors, there is actually problem with communication and awareness of the industry. The government seemed does not pay more attention to take care of the sector in terms of promoting and encouraging locals to take job in hotel industry.
There is no any board or institution from the government who concerns on the image and awareness of for example, benefits of working as an hotelier. The government does not give proper understanding about the area of hotel jobs, for example there are several options and different types of positions available in a hotel or restaurant. If somebody is not really keen to fill a job where he/she has to deal with guest directly, there are still varied positions in back office that he/she does not necessary contact with guests directly.
Moreover, the government should highlight that there are lots of interesting benefits to take career within the industry. There is opportunity for Bahrainis to compete in high level management where they will obtain lots of attractive benefits, such as high salaries, housing, health insurance, international mobility and so on.
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
5 Reasons Bahrainis Don’t Like Hotel Jobs
I made small research and interviews on the reason why most Bahrainis are not interested in hotel jobs. I found at least two factors; socio-culture and socio-economy and here I will share with you why they don't want to take up jobs in hospitality industry from social perspective. Next post, we will discuss factors from social economy perspective. Enjoy…
Religion is the main factor influences Bahrainis in making decision to choose type of job. Since Bahrainis are doctrinised by Islam values, most parents do not suggest their children to work in hotel. They do not prefer their generation to be involved in travel related projects, because based on their thought that, the participation in hotel and hospitality industry, means against values in their religion. The rest of considerations have lots of to do with the way of life.
Culture is the similar, where it is one of the reasons for Bahrainis to avoid hotel job. As one of GCC countries, where Arab tradition and customs are dominant, majority of Bahraini simply think that tourism and hospitality industry is a kind of modernisation brought by the west. Tourism comes as a new phenomenon that contains several modern values and is associated to be contradictive over Arab conservative tradition. Those conservative families will definitely suggest their generation to elude working in hotel industry.
Education, skills and competencies are some of major reasons. The current Bahraini’s education system does not focus on providing suitable skills relevant to the job market. The government of Bahrain acknowledge the fact that there is an actual gap between the educational system output and the jobs available. For example, students, as a trend, are showing interest in oil company job, banking or IT, when there is a severe dearth for hotel professionals. This means that the large number of graduate students do not have jobs available when they are graduated.
The ministry of labour data shows that 69 percent of job seekers are secondary graduates or high school dropouts. They do not possess the skill and knowledge required to compete in the job market. In fact, they do not even meet the basic essential work skills. To be an hotelier, an employee must have basic skills and knowledge on hotel operations and management.
Attitude is one of the main reasons why are Bahrainis not employed in lodging industry. The basic requirement to work in the industry is the attitude of “pride to serve”. Tourism or hotel job is service industry where the backbone, as well as nature of the job is “to serve somebody else”. Only a worker who has proper attitude to serve people, will adapt to the job and can maintain longer employment. Moreover, the existing employment system does not encourage Bahrainis commitment to their jobs. They don’t simply commit to the job.
Work ethic is considerably related to the eagerness and level of enthusiasm. Are Bahrainis lazy? Bahrain’s Minister of Labour, Dr. Majeed al-Alawi, described Bahraini and most GCC nationals as “lazy” and “spoilt”, relying on imported labour for the simplest tasks.
Despite Bahrain government schemes to reduce expatriate and get more locals into work, the hard truth is that too many Bahrainis don’t want real job. “The simple truth is there are no t enough Bahraini nationals looking for work who have the quota expectations of the government”. Compared with expatriates, most locals will not work long hours, then it causes many employers have to hire at least two Bahrainis to replace each expatriate.
Anyone can add other reasons?
Religion is the main factor influences Bahrainis in making decision to choose type of job. Since Bahrainis are doctrinised by Islam values, most parents do not suggest their children to work in hotel. They do not prefer their generation to be involved in travel related projects, because based on their thought that, the participation in hotel and hospitality industry, means against values in their religion. The rest of considerations have lots of to do with the way of life.
Culture is the similar, where it is one of the reasons for Bahrainis to avoid hotel job. As one of GCC countries, where Arab tradition and customs are dominant, majority of Bahraini simply think that tourism and hospitality industry is a kind of modernisation brought by the west. Tourism comes as a new phenomenon that contains several modern values and is associated to be contradictive over Arab conservative tradition. Those conservative families will definitely suggest their generation to elude working in hotel industry.
Education, skills and competencies are some of major reasons. The current Bahraini’s education system does not focus on providing suitable skills relevant to the job market. The government of Bahrain acknowledge the fact that there is an actual gap between the educational system output and the jobs available. For example, students, as a trend, are showing interest in oil company job, banking or IT, when there is a severe dearth for hotel professionals. This means that the large number of graduate students do not have jobs available when they are graduated.
The ministry of labour data shows that 69 percent of job seekers are secondary graduates or high school dropouts. They do not possess the skill and knowledge required to compete in the job market. In fact, they do not even meet the basic essential work skills. To be an hotelier, an employee must have basic skills and knowledge on hotel operations and management.
Attitude is one of the main reasons why are Bahrainis not employed in lodging industry. The basic requirement to work in the industry is the attitude of “pride to serve”. Tourism or hotel job is service industry where the backbone, as well as nature of the job is “to serve somebody else”. Only a worker who has proper attitude to serve people, will adapt to the job and can maintain longer employment. Moreover, the existing employment system does not encourage Bahrainis commitment to their jobs. They don’t simply commit to the job.
Work ethic is considerably related to the eagerness and level of enthusiasm. Are Bahrainis lazy? Bahrain’s Minister of Labour, Dr. Majeed al-Alawi, described Bahraini and most GCC nationals as “lazy” and “spoilt”, relying on imported labour for the simplest tasks.
Despite Bahrain government schemes to reduce expatriate and get more locals into work, the hard truth is that too many Bahrainis don’t want real job. “The simple truth is there are no t enough Bahraini nationals looking for work who have the quota expectations of the government”. Compared with expatriates, most locals will not work long hours, then it causes many employers have to hire at least two Bahrainis to replace each expatriate.
Anyone can add other reasons?
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Come on Bahrainis, Lets Take up the Job..!
Hotel industry in Bahrain is facing a serious problem; inadequate of employee. Most lodging properties in Bahrain suffer from shortage of Bahraini workers. Despite the fact that there is high demand on hiring Bahrainis, they apparently do not have interest in hotel jobs. Bahrainisation programme in private sector did not effectively increase participation of Bahrainis to work in hotel industry. Meanwhile, unemployment among Bahrainis increases every year.
The current labour market in hotel industry is dominated by expatriates and in the future, expatriates recruitment cost will increase significantly and could be even higher than recruiting Bahrainis. I guess, if the Bahrain government do not prepare Bahrainis to take up jobs in this sector, it will severe the country’s current unemployment level.
* * *
The current labour market in hotel industry is dominated by expatriates and in the future, expatriates recruitment cost will increase significantly and could be even higher than recruiting Bahrainis. I guess, if the Bahrain government do not prepare Bahrainis to take up jobs in this sector, it will severe the country’s current unemployment level.
* * *
Tourism has been booming in Bahrain since the last two decades. The government aims at taking this sector to at least 30 percent growth in the next 10 years. This tremendous increase is expected as a direct result of new developments, which are mainly directed towards bolstering the tourism infrastructure in Bahrain. Through the Economic Development Board’s new branding “Bahrain Business Friendly” and scores of ambitious efforts from the Ministry of Tourism, the sector has been setup as an economic locomotive to drive other sectors, striving to make the country the best global tourist destination.
Multi billion dollar tourism and hospitality projects have been invested in the Kingdom and thus will open employment widely. Data from Ministry of Tourism announced eighteen international hotels are under construction that will support Bahrain tourism with additional 4,500 starred rooms. These rooms will need approximately 3,600 employees, working directly for the hotel. And, by its multiplier effect, the new hotels will absorbs roughly 10,000 indirect workers from various sectors.
By means of this booming, Bahrain will have serious problem in term of supplying labour working in the industry. With current workforce condition, most hotels and lodging properties in Bahrain suffer from shortage of proper employee to run the hotel operations. The country’s hotel business has been facing difficulties in supplying skilled labours.
Many enterprises, including hotel businesses in Bahrain and GCC countries are to be hit hardly because of the expected shortage of million workers over the coming years. And moreover there is an acute shortage of hotel workers, particularly Bahrainis who have appropriate skills and experienced in hotel industry.
While lodging industry is struggling to supply proper labour in term of quantity and quality, most Bahraini do less intention to work in the industry. As a consequence, the industry employ expatriates from various neighbour countries (Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan), and mainly Asian countries such as the Philippines, India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Indonesia and Thailand.
Meanwhile, unemployment in Bahrain shows significant rate and could increase if radical labour reforms are not introduced and implemented. In the other word, if Bahrain’s labour market, particularly tourism and hotel industry is always depended on foreign worker, this will severe Bahraini’s unemployment.
The problem become more complicated since tourism is growing in almost every part of the world. In India, China and other countries in South East Asia and Asia Pacific, tourism has been growing extensively. The sector will generate employment opportunity to its nationals which will also promise better economic condition in general. This means, current hoteliers who work for hotel or hospitality sectors in Bahrain or in other countries in the region, soon or later, will be attracted to come back to their country considering better salary and compensation. If Bahrainis are not prepared to work in the industry, Bahrain’s hospitality sector will face serious problem to substitute expatriates who are no longer interested in taking career in Bahrain.
Recent situation in the country shows that government from countries such as India and the Philippines demanded better compensation package for their labour due to economic improvement. With Asian economy booming especially in India, professionals and highly skilled workers in the Gulf back home with more attractive package and most of them are not keen on working in the region. To respond this situation, countries such as India and the Philippines requested the government of Bahrain to increase minimum salary for their nationals.
It is important to understand that hotel, restaurant and hospitality industry need special skill to deliver the service. Hotel or restaurant jobs require staffs that have sense of service and are keen to serve people proudly. The customer perception of the service is always based on the performance of the employee they interact with, particularly in every time guest contact needed. Therefore, if Bahrain is not be able to supply professional workers to perform the jobs, it will effect to the level or quality of competitiveness of the industry. In other words, if Bahrain’s hotel industry fails to provide good quality services through its professional hoteliers, it is not impossible that most visitors eventually leave Bahrain due to the lack of proper services.
Bahrainisation programme as one of solutions introduced by the Government several years ago did not effectively increase participation of Bahrainis to work in hotel industry. Problems present nowadays, when there are lots of demands appeal to provide more jobs and employment for Bahrainis. Although there are massive calls for public to encourage Bahraini to work within the industry, many employers echo that Bahraini nationals are averse to making long-term commitments.
I understand there is a bunch of reasons why Bahrainis don’t work in the sector (I will share the factors on the next posting). But whatever the reasons, this year should be a start for Bahraini to think, act and take the job. Otherwise, they will be marginalized, by any mean.
Friday, February 6, 2009
Marriott Ambassadors
You know the reaason why I display these images, cause I have no idea what to post, hehehe...
Anyway, we are proud to be Marriott Ambassadors..
Mo & Sebastian 
Agung & Mo
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