DUBAI: Qatar has directed ministries and all other government and public entities to reduce costs for non-Qatari employees by 30 percent as of June 1, either via pay cuts or lay-offs, a finance ministry document seen by Reuters showed.
The document also outlined other cuts affecting Qatari employees, including to benefits, which come as the world’s top liquefied natural gas exporter feels the bite of a global coronavirus downturn that has sapped energy demand.
Expatriates make up the majority of many Gulf states’ populations, including in tiny Qatar, where the workforce of everything from its banks to airlines are filled out by foreign nationals.
Qatar has been pushing to nationalize much of its labor force, a task complicated by a national population of just roughly 300,000.
The government did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Non-Qatari government employees would be given a two-month grace period if they were terminated, the document said.
For Qatari employees, cash allowances in lieu of holidays would cease, as would advance payments except for marriages, the document said.
The ministry also said the office of the prime minister must be notified if a government entity wished to retain an employee after they reach the age of 60.
As of June 11, Qatar had registered a total of 75,071 coronavirus cases.
Qatari government entities must cut foreign staff costs by 30%
https://arab.news/nydu5
Qatari government entities must cut foreign staff costs by 30%
- Non-Qatari government employees would be given a two-month grace period if they were terminated
- Expatriates make up the majority of Qatar’s population
Senior Hamas figure among 7 killed in Israeli airstrike
- Pair of Israeli airstrikes hit Gaza's Deir Al-Balah, killing a Hamas commander
- Boy, aged 16, among the dead
CAIRO: A senior figure in the armed wing of Hamas was among seven people killed on Thursday in a pair of Israeli airstrikes in Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, a Hamas source said.
The Israeli military did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the incident. The Hamas source said one of the dead was Mohammed Al-Holy, a local commander in the group’s armed wing in Deir Al-Balah.
Hamas condemned the strikes on the Al-Holy family, in a statement that did not mention Mohammed or his role in the group. It accused Israel of violating the ceasefire deal in place since October, and attempting to reignite the conflict.
Health officials said the six other dead in the incident included a 16-year-old.
Israel and Hamas have traded blame for violations of the ceasefire and remain far apart from each other on key issues, despite the United States announcing the start of the agreement’s second phase on Wednesday.
More than 400 Palestinians and three Israeli soldiers have been reported killed since the ceasefire took effect in October.
Israel has razed buildings and ordered residents out of more than half of Gaza where its troops remain. Nearly all of the territory’s more than 2 million people now live in makeshift homes or damaged buildings in a sliver of territory where Israeli troops have withdrawn and Hamas has reasserted control.
The United Nations children’s agency said on Tuesday that over 100 children have been killed in Gaza since the ceasefire, including victims of drone and quadcopter attacks.
Israel launched its operations in Gaza in the wake of an attack by Hamas-led fighters in October 2023 which killed 1,200 people, according to Israeli tallies. Israel’s assault has killed 71,000 people, according to health authorities in the strip, and left much of Gaza in ruins.
