Turmoil In Region Could Drive Job Seekers To Gulf - Study

Any sustained upheavals in the wider Middle East region could increase the supply of Arab professionals from regional hotspots who will seek careers in the Gulf, putting downward pressure on salaries, says online recruitment firm GulfTalent in a report Monday, citing the experience of the 2006 conflict in Lebanon which resulted in a mass migration of Lebanese professionals to the Gulf. According to the study, employers in the Gulf are likely to face tougher workforce nationalization targets in 2011, as governments accelerate existing efforts to create jobs for their nationals, particularly in Bahrain and Oman, which according to UNDP statistics, have the highest rates of unemployment in the GCC.