INTERNATIONAL Analysis: Recruiters resolve to carry on as protests against film continue
24 September 2012
As the protests over the film ‘Innocence of Muslims’ rumbled on across the Muslim world over the last few days, recruiters remained relatively unperturbed and determined to get on with business.
Mon, 24 Sep 2012 | By Colin Cottell
As the protests over the film ‘Innocence of Muslims’ rumbled on across the Muslim world over the last few days, recruiters remained relatively unperturbed and determined to get on with business.
Following protests earlier this month in the Middle East and North Africa, which led to the deaths of four Americans during an attack on a US consulate in Libya, there were further eruptions of anger in Nigeria, Iran, Turkey and Pakistan.
However, Derek Dorman, chief executive of specialist banking and finance recruiter Gulf Connexions, which has five offices in the Gulf region, tells Recruiter: “The region takes these things in its stride. It will be very rare that that there is not something going on.”
James Allen, managing director of international oil & gas recruiter Swift Worldwide Resources, says that so far he hasn’t seen any effect on recruitment. However, he tells Recruiter that as a result of the trouble, some projects and operations to Libya, due to come on steam as the country returns to normal following the ousting of former dictator Colonel Gaddafi, are likely to be delayed.
Josh Young, director at energy, construction and engineering recruiter The Highfield Company, says that while business was “hit quite hard” by the Arab Spring “when whole countries struggled”, the effect of these incidents has been mild in comparison. Contractors are still working in Basra, Iraq, he says, while Yemen is habitually “a hostile place”, and so “we haven’t noticed much difference”.
For Zoe Watson, director at global recruitment consultancy Leap 29, uncertainty in the Arab world does have “a short-term drop in demand and the confidence clients have in the markets they operate”. However, she adds: “Our clients are usually robust enough to keep operations moving whilst political changes happen.”
Alistair Rynish, director of global telecommunications recruiter First Point Group, says he hasn’t had any calls from the Middle East office expressing concern about the situation.
As he points out, with “a constant level of strife” in Egypt, Sudan and Libya, the recent flare up is nothing new. The company operates in 100 countries, with only Afghanistan being a no-go area. And while the company brought contractors out of Haiti and Chad, Rynish says the current trouble “doesn’t really affect our market”.
For Young, part of the reason why the recent outpourings of anger have only had a limited effect is the response of contractors, many of whom are used to working in the world’s trouble spots. “They know what they are in for,” says Young. Contractors working for bigger companies in particular are also provided with good security, he adds.
A spokesperson for communications technology and services firm Ericsson, which employs over 100,000 people and operates in 180 countries, says that “security of our staff is always the highest priority”.
Dorman notes the importance of agencies in offering reassurance to contractors who may be nervous about a particular location. “People say to me ‘you live in Bahrain – what is it like?’ It’s a very welcoming part of the world to be honest.”
Watson reiterates this, and points to the efforts made in countries such as the UAE to provide an attractive environment for Western workers. “Much of the UAE, for example, which is expat dominated, has become highly cosmopolitan, with a Western ethos on schooling and health, attracting people to these locations, ” she says.
As the protests over the film ‘Innocence of Muslims’ rumbled on across the Muslim world over the last few days, recruiters remained relatively unperturbed and determined to get on with business.
Following protests earlier this month in the Middle East and North Africa, which led to the deaths of four Americans during an attack on a US consulate in Libya, there were further eruptions of anger in Nigeria, Iran, Turkey and Pakistan.
However, Derek Dorman, chief executive of specialist banking and finance recruiter Gulf Connexions, which has five offices in the Gulf region, tells Recruiter: “The region takes these things in its stride. It will be very rare that that there is not something going on.”
James Allen, managing director of international oil & gas recruiter Swift Worldwide Resources, says that so far he hasn’t seen any effect on recruitment. However, he tells Recruiter that as a result of the trouble, some projects and operations to Libya, due to come on steam as the country returns to normal following the ousting of former dictator Colonel Gaddafi, are likely to be delayed.
Josh Young, director at energy, construction and engineering recruiter The Highfield Company, says that while business was “hit quite hard” by the Arab Spring “when whole countries struggled”, the effect of these incidents has been mild in comparison. Contractors are still working in Basra, Iraq, he says, while Yemen is habitually “a hostile place”, and so “we haven’t noticed much difference”.
For Zoe Watson, director at global recruitment consultancy Leap 29, uncertainty in the Arab world does have “a short-term drop in demand and the confidence clients have in the markets they operate”. However, she adds: “Our clients are usually robust enough to keep operations moving whilst political changes happen.”
Alistair Rynish, director of global telecommunications recruiter First Point Group, says he hasn’t had any calls from the Middle East office expressing concern about the situation.
As he points out, with “a constant level of strife” in Egypt, Sudan and Libya, the recent flare up is nothing new. The company operates in 100 countries, with only Afghanistan being a no-go area. And while the company brought contractors out of Haiti and Chad, Rynish says the current trouble “doesn’t really affect our market”.
For Young, part of the reason why the recent outpourings of anger have only had a limited effect is the response of contractors, many of whom are used to working in the world’s trouble spots. “They know what they are in for,” says Young. Contractors working for bigger companies in particular are also provided with good security, he adds.
A spokesperson for communications technology and services firm Ericsson, which employs over 100,000 people and operates in 180 countries, says that “security of our staff is always the highest priority”.
Dorman notes the importance of agencies in offering reassurance to contractors who may be nervous about a particular location. “People say to me ‘you live in Bahrain – what is it like?’ It’s a very welcoming part of the world to be honest.”
Watson reiterates this, and points to the efforts made in countries such as the UAE to provide an attractive environment for Western workers. “Much of the UAE, for example, which is expat dominated, has become highly cosmopolitan, with a Western ethos on schooling and health, attracting people to these locations, ” she says.
