Doha – The labour market of Qatar is permeated with foreign labour in all levels, from workers in civil construction to executives at large companies. They are Asians, Arabs from other nations, Europeans, North Americans and also Brazilians who supply a demand that cannot be fulfilled by the small native population. Just to give an idea, foreigners make up almost 95% of the labour market in the country, according to statistics supplied by the government.
It is in this multicultural environment that Brazilians live, as is the case with football coach Caio Júnior, from Al Gharafa club, and Qatar Airways pilots Cezar Prates and Alexandre Moraes. Apart from the new experience and good salaries, life in Doha represents to them the guarantee of quality of life.
“I could not imagine that quality of life here was so good,” said the former trainer at Flamengo and Palmeiras, two of the main Brazilian football teams, who has just completed his first season in football in Qatar. “In all the experience I have had up to now, I have never seen such peacefulness,” he added, explaining that he has not only lived in Brazil, but also in Portugal and Japan.
Caio and his wife, Adriana, have two children, one aged 18 and the other aged 13, with the former living, studying and training football in the United States, and the second living in Doha. One of the great differentials of the city, according to the coach, is “zero violence”.
Moraes, who has a six-year-old daughter, agrees. “In Brazil, we lived in Tijuca (a neighbourhood in the northern zone of Rio de Janeiro), she (the daughter) would have been trapped in an apartment between four walls,” he said. “Here we live in a condominium in which there are several children, liberty is total and safety is absolute. She spends all her time in the street,” he added.
The Airbus A-330 pilot adds that coexistence with children from different nationalities and cultures is excellent for his daughter. At school, she has lessons in English and French and also wants to learn Arabic. “She is living globalisation from a young age,” said Moraes.
To Prates, however, the story is a little different. He has an adult daughter, who lives in Brazil, and is in Doha with his architect wife, who worked while in Rio de Janeiro but lives the life of a housewife in Doha, doing language courses. She is alone when her husband travels. “It is a great contrast,” said the Boeing 777 pilot. His trips oblige him to spend at least 12 days away each month.
The couple also miss their home in Rio, a house “in the middle of the bush”, which contrasts with the arid environment of Qatar. Both pilots, however, as is the case with Caio Júnior, agree that life in Qatar is professionally and financially worthwhile.
Both pilots were formerly Varig employees and saw in aviation in the Middle East a way out to the practical demise of the formerly great Brazilian airline. “I turned out the lights and locked the door [at Varig],” joked Prates, who spent 33 years at the company. Moraes had been there for 21 years and they both contributed to the Aeros pension plan. With the bankruptcy, their hopes of a good pension went down the drain.
Moraes, who is 49 years old, would have been able to retire through Aeros at the age of 55. In the case of Prates, aged 57, after the Varig crisis, he would only be able to keep his social security pension, which would not make it possible to maintain the same quality of life. “This is the factor that weighs heaviest,” he said.
According to aviation regulations, pilots who work on international routes must retire at the age of 65. Moraes said he does not plan to go back to work in Brazil and Prates also does not consider returning at the moment. “The [labour] market in Brazil is in disgrace,” said Moraes, adding that, in the Middle East, aviation is booming and companies seek trained and experienced professionals.
Another advantage of life in Qatar is the possibility of visiting other places. At Varig, according to Prates, most of the routes were to North America and countries in Western Europe, but at Qatar Airways there are chances to know other destinations in Africa, the Middle East and Asia. “We can see the other side of the world,” he said.
On June 24th, however, the company should inaugurate a direct flight between Doha and São Paulo, and Prates has already offered to fly the route, as the model of aircraft he flies will be used on the route.
*Translated by Mark Ament
