Man Power

The UAE is sucking up labour from around the world, and DULSCO is playing a pipeline role

Surjeet Singh, General Manager, Logistics, HR Solutions, DULSCO

Is anyone tired of hearing about staffing shortages? Likely not Surjeet Singh, General Manager for the Logistics department of DULSCO’s Human Resource Solutions division. It is his job, after all, to supply manpower for short-staffed logistics operations, from Jebel Ali Port to DNATA at Dubai airport. And he is under a lot of pressure. “Most of the time we have more requirements than what we can supply,” he says.

While Indians still make up a bulk of DULSCO’s labour force, Singh explains that workers from the subcontinent are becoming more and more difficult to find. Dubai’s ports and airports now have to compete with new airports and new ports coming up along with the new Indian economy. “You can still get unskilled workers in bulk from India, but skilled workers, for example crane operators, we are finding difficult to recruit,” he says.

While Pakistanis have also traditionally dominated the market, Singh says more and more people from Bangladesh are starting to work in the region. “Bangladeshis are almost equal to the Indian labour coming in.”

Singh says we will also start seeing more Africans around local logistics operations. “We are actually looking at Africa, as we have to keep looking for new resources,” he explains. “The only concern is – how are those guys going to be able to coexist with the other nationalities? Indians have been here traditionally, Pakistanis have been here traditionally. They know the area, they know the culture. Filipinos, also, have adjusted very well.”

S. Bala Kumar, Director, DULSCO, insists that the various nationalities living in DULSCO’s 300,000 sq feet of labour camps scattered throughout Dubai manage to coexist without segregated living quarters. “We try and mix them to keep them together,” says Kumar. “We have very good control over the camps. We do have the occasional drunken brawl on the weekends, but they have good fun.”

Kumar says the workers also manage to share their kitchens. “We’ve given them the facilities, gas cooking ranges, cabinets and utensils, the whole works. But they cook their own meals. It works very well.”

Singh adds that, socially, nationalities still tend to segregate. “They make groups. This is a danger we face. The Pakistanis will make a group. The Indians will make a group. But you can’t help it.”

He says DULSCO has experienced little of the labour dissent that Dubai became globally infamous for several years ago, with construction workers forming unions and threatening strikes. “At the present moment, I do not think this is happening here,” he says, when asked if workers ever rebel against employers. “Most of the labourers pay a lot of money to the agents who brought them over here, and to recover that they have to stay working for at least a few years. They know that if they somehow get thrown out of their job, they will not recover that money.”

He insists that workers are quite satisfied with their accommodation, which includes a football field, gym and basketball court. And he insists that DULSCO “goes beyond government regulations” when it comes to housing requirements. “We make sure that all of our people are happy.”

Speaking of logistics Of DULSCO’s approximately 5,000 employees, around 1,200 work in logistics-related industries. Singh explains that the skill set for this sector is highly specific. “You have to have a technical knowledge to deal with vessels, aircraft, warehouse, forklifts and cranes,” he says. “This work requires more than hands and legs.”

He says staff can take classes at the labour camps, for example training to become a forklift operator, or learning English, the key to communicating on the job. “Whenever someone shows he wants to grow his skill set, we make sure we provide him with the opportunity.”

While many of DULSCO’s contracts involve either purely recruitment or permanent staffing with visa and accommodation provision, the company also offers temporary staffing solutions. Many clients keep a set number of permanent staff and then call DULSCO when they need more men. Singh says this means supplying labour to the logistics sector can be a bit of a gamble, as demand for services tends to fluctuate. “Sometimes there are a lot of goods coming into the port,” he says. “Sometimes there is a complete lull.” He explains that volumes tend to increase during Ramadan and drop during January and February.

“We have to be completely aware of what the market requires and what it will require in three months.”

But DULSCO also has logistics operations of its own – try moving 4,500 people between their accommodation and nearly 400 work sites. This takes over 60 vehicles running 24 hours a day, says Kumar. “It’s very complicated.”