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Qatar: MoL updates private sector job description, classification guide

The Ministry of Labour (MoL), in cooperation with the Ministry of Interior, has issued an updated version of the guide for describing and classifying professions in the private sector (the Qatari Standard Classification of Professions), as part of the Ministry’s follow-up of the latest new professional titles that have been circulated in the labour market during the past period.

The classification is in line with the National Development Strategy, one of whose main objectives is to develop a competitive labour market. One of its main pillars is the availability of an advanced classification of professional titles in the State of Qatar, characterised by comprehensiveness and flexibility, and in line with Gulf and international standards.

The Ministries of Interior, Labour, Education and Higher Education, Public Health, Communications and Information Technology, in addition to Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development, QatarEnergy, Qatar Central Bank, Civil Service and Government Development Bureau, National Planning Council, and Qatar Chamber participated in preparing the classification, which includes 3,717 professions.

The issuance of the updated version of the guide comes within the efforts of the Ministry of Labour to keep pace with developments in the labour market in the State of Qatar, the expansion of activities and the diversity of professions, and in line with the standards of the International Standard Classification of Occupations, in addition to organizing the work sectors and human resources working in different specializations, skills and the nature of professional tasks.

The Ministry of Labour confirmed the continuation of developing and updating the guide to describing and classifying professions in the private sector, in accordance with developments in the labour sector and the extent of the need to add new professional titles produced by the labour market in all sectors, and preparing job descriptions for all job titles.

The Ministry of Interior participated in preparing the new private sector profession description and classification guide, as a reference for personal data and a provider of basic data that serves various institutions in the country. The guide has been approved in the Ministry of Interior’s systems for gradual use in two phases.

The first phase of its implementation is the integrated linkage services between the Ministries of Interior and Labour, which include requests to bring in workers for establishments subject to the Labour Law and the subsequent issuance of visas and completion of residency printing procedures, in addition to documenting the work contracts required to renew residencies and print cards for workers in the private sector, according to the professions included in the new classification. In the next phase, the guide’s application will be expanded to include sectors not subject to the Labour Law.

The private sector occupation description and classification guide is consistent with the International Standard Classification of Occupations issued by the UNEconomic and Social Council, and is in line with the Arab Occupational Classification and the Unified Occupational Classification of GCC countries.

The guide consists of five main groups of professions, each group having a number of parts, then chapters, then sections, and finally the names of the professions, which number more than three thousand professions in this classification.

The classification was based on a coding system consisting of seven numerical digits for each profession, meaning that each profession included in the classification has a specific, graded code compatible with the electronic software that will be used for this purpose.

The Private Sector Occupation Description and Classification Guide aims to expedite procedures by granting labour approvals based on clear classifications of occupations and skill levels, supporting decision-making through statistical work, preparing labour policies based on data classified in a standardized manner, with government agencies, the private sector, and international partners based on agreed-upon international and regional classifications and standards.

The guide is distinguished by its comprehensiveness, as it includes all types and levels of professions, and the flexibility to accommodate any new additions of professions that the labour market may provide, and the sequence and construction of the structure of professions at their various levels, reaching the smallest level, which is the name of the profession, and the compatibility and harmony of the coding method with advanced electronic systems and software.