By IANS
New Delhi : Gulf-based industrial contracting and oil refining company Nasser S. Al Hazri Corp. is to recruit around 20,000 Indian workers and professionals in the next six months, managing director Ravi Pillai announced here Thursday.
“We have recently signed several multimillion dollar contracts with various international clients, which will enable me to recruit another 20,000 more people from India in the coming three to six months, as our operations in the Gulf are being expanded,” Pillai, who was conferred the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman award Wednesday, said at a press conference.
The Saudi Arabia-registered company, with major operations in Saudi Arabia and Qatar, currently has a headcount of over 35,000, with Indians numbering about 28,000.
Its current annual turnover is around $2.5 billion.
Asked about the details of new contracts, Pillai said, “We have recently signed a $1-billion contract in Qatar.”
The company’s human resources head Jayanta Kumar said the company is planning to recruit about 1,000 fresh engineers from India.
“We are planning to recruit 1,000 fresh engineering graduates because of our ensuing expansion. We need 400 mechanical engineers, 400 civil engineers, 150 electrical engineers and 50 instrumentation engineers,” Kumar told IANS.
In all, the company will recruit 45 different categories of workers who will be mostly based in Saudi Arabia and Qatar, Kumar added.
When pointed out that the current infrastructure boom and rising salary levels in India might make it difficult for him to find so many workers, Pillai said, “We are going to raise the salary levels. We are planning to raise the salaries of our employees by at least 30 percent this year.”
Overall, he said, the salaries in the Gulf countries will rise in the near future.
Asked if it would not be difficult to get so many visas, he said, “Our company has gained a very good reputation over the years across the region. We have good relations with the authorities in these countries. So, I don’t see any problem there.”
“Over the past two years, my employees have been remitting to India an average of Rs.700 million ($17.8 million) every month. This will increase with our fresh recruitment drive,” he added.