Fair recruitment matters for business - Lessons from a pilot study in Qatar's construction sector
This brochure presents the lessons from a pilot to promote fair recruitment in Qatar's construction sector. The pilot showed implementing fair recruitment is possible with commitment and transparency amongst all actors involved.
In early 2018, QDVC, a shareholding company between Qatari Diar and VINCI Construction Grands Projets, undertaking engineering and construction services for major infrastructure projects, signed a Public Private Partnership agreement with the ILO Qatar Project Office to implement a pilot on fair recruitment. The construction sector was identified for the pilot due to its relatively large reliance on low-wage migrant workers and on often long and complex sub-contracting and supply chains.
To address the vulnerabilities faced by workers within supply chains, the pilot focused on the recruitment practices of STS, a service provider that places workers in QDVC worksites. Due to the large number of workers STS recruited from Bangladesh, the pilot looked specifically at the Bangladesh-Qatar migration corridor. STS’s long-time recruitment
agency partner in Bangladesh, Bonanza, also agreed to take part in the pilot.
In January 2018, STS, encouraged and accompanied by QDVC, had already adopted a policy of not charging any recruitment fees or related costs to workers. To complement this process, STS and Bonanza felt the pilot would help them address remaining challenges, with the collective expertise of the other partners.
