Page 11 - DIVA_2_2018

what you have is plutocracy and tribalism ruling the em- out external audit of employment and placement of ill-
ployment market. Sure, if you want any old job with no qualified people in senior positions to curtail favouritism
or limited future prospects, you can have it however, hav- and nepotism.
ing spent years and substantial amounts of your parent's 2. Encourage employers to work closely with universities
money on your education, you feel entitled to a job with to try and establish education programmes more closely
good prospects. aligned with market needs rather than familial pressure
An insidious feature to add to the mix is the almost dis- to follow in specific career paths. Give tax breaks to em-
regard for the 50% of the youth, mainly women who are ployers willing to sponsor university degrees more akin
still expected to fulfil the traditional role of wife I mother to their recruitment needs.
and education and working career is a temporary hold- 3. Make the working environment more millennial-
ing position until Mr. Right turns up to claim his future friendly. Move away from closed offices and in to open
wife and mother of his children and he expects her to plan. Adopt principled value systems that speak to the
give up work as soon as she gets pregnant. This waste of young. Embrace social media as a means to conduct-
intelligent human resource is extremely damaging to the ing business. Sponsor and encourage employment and
economy and society in general. retention of female staff by offering more flexible work-
ing hours, introduce in-company crèches to tempt new
So, what can be done about this to make the Middle East mothers to return to work after the birth of their children.
a modern and more vibrant economy that utilises the hu- Encourage working from home on temporary or long-
man capital that's literally waiting to be snapped up? The term basis especially in technology-based professions.
simple answer is to reverse the above conditions but, that Clearly, such measures cannot be orchestrated and fund-
would be a glib answer. More specifically, I believe there ed by governments alone. This needs to happen in part-
are practical steps that can be taken to gradually improve nership with employers who need to see the value of this
the situation. I say 'gradually' because I do not believe the cultural change. In other words, employers and govern-
fix will be quick or easy simply because the reasons are ments need to change their attitude about the young and
mainly cultural ones and we all know how difficult it is to try and engage in conducting business according to the
alter a society's culture. Here is a three-step solution: 21St Century model rather than rely on previous centu-
1. Enforce retirement age to be around 65 years of age. ry's standards.
Discourage nepotism and introduce monitoring proc- MUFID SUKKAR
esses to ensure vacancies are filled on merit rather than
family name or personal contacts. Government to carry

INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMAT - DIVA
9