Shortage in domestic supply of engineering support skills attracts foreign labor

The President of the Order of Engineers and Architects (OEA), Khaled Shehab said last week that the Order seeks to cooperate with all universities in the country so as to become a pioneer in specialized scientific research in the various engineering disciplines and in order that raise professional standards. Shehab in his lecture before the Antonine University students underlined that such a policy primarily “needs proper planning and preparation at the university levels, perseverance and follow-up of the latest international developments in the field, and participation in all the seminars and courses organized by the OEA throughout the year.” Shehab, while noting the presence of over 60 thousand members in the Beirut and Tripoli Orders, maintained that the number was not hard to deal with provided that local, Arab and global labor markets were in actual need of such specialties. Anything less, OEA chair warned, will overwhelm the market with an annual excess of graduates that might reach 4600 engineers. On a parallel level, he pointed out to an acute shortage in the assisting professions. This, he added, renders our national economy dependent on unskilled foreign workforce and reinforces the emigration of educated youth. (Al Diyar, April 15, 2016)