Brain drain creates unique challenges for telcos

 
Ineke Botter of Lebanon’s Alfa, Amer Al Rawas of Oman Mobile and
Mickael Ghossein of Orange Jordan, said the lack of skilled workers in the
telecoms industry has unique challenges in each country

Senior executives from Orange Jordan, Oman Mobile and Alfa in Lebanon, discussed challenges in the telecoms industry in their respective countries, during the first day of the Strategic Telecoms Summit running parallel to the MECOM exhibition.

Orange Jordan CEO Mickael Ghossein, Alfa CEO Ineke Botter and Oman Mobile’s managing director Amer Al Rawas, commented on the brain drain in the industry and the shortage of talented individuals.
Botter said she faces particularly challenging human resources circumstances in Lebanon where a high proportion of the highly educated population leave the country due to political and social factors.

The CEO said she sees one resignation a week, and in some cases one resignation a day. “So what I am trying to do in this constant chaos, is to create certain anchors,” Botter stated. “Two years ago, I introduced telecoms awards for three universities, not rich universities, to induce them to work on a telecommunications project.”

Botter said the initiative had been fairly successful and
her second plan was to set up a graduation programme where students in their last year of studies can receive paid employment in telecommunications.

And while the obvious need is for telecoms engineers, Botter states the industry also needs skilled marketers, economists and finance people. Orange Jordan’s Ghossein said current education institutions
in his country did not match students’ skills with what is required in the industry, meaning there is something missing with the
current system. “You could get an IT engineer but they are not up to standard. You have to spend a lot of money to train them,” Ghossein stated. However, Al Rawas from Oman Mobile said, the influx of expatriates into his country was having positive effects on the economy that had not been properly analysed.

“Those people that are coming are often bringing healthy segments to the market. They are normally yuppies or ‘DINKS’ – double incomes with no kids,” Al Rawas commented. “They are young people who are active, doing business, having an income. They spend their money on lifestyle. These people are a blessing for the economy.”