Well-publicised allegations of poor treatment of migrant labour on projects for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar can’t be taken as indicative of the bigger picture, recruiters involved in the region tell recruiter.co.uk.

Recent weeks have seen a string of stories and suggestions of widespread labour abuse in the Gulf state, where depending on estimates, anywhere between 75-90% of the population are immigrants. UK and global professional recruiters are finding Qatar a happy hunting ground, with the huge number of projects even before the World Cup was awarded to Qatar providing plenty of opportunities.

Martin Carroll, the head of technical recruitment at Wellington Professional Recruitment, was part of Northern Irish trade mission to the country last month.

His experience is that conditions “depend on the organisation”, having seen plenty of examples of high quality, comfortable labour camps with good facilities.

And Craig Bines, the managing director of engineering and construction job site group RJob Network, suggests conditions for both blue and white-collar migrants are likely to be better at certain firms. “The European or global organisations will tend to have higher standards, for all their employees,” he tells recruiter.co.uk.

Bines also says Qatar’s current situation in now mirrors what he saw in Dubai around 2004 and 2005. Dubai’s growth has since calmed. “Now there’s still a lot of building and infrastructure [in Dubai], but there’s not the same level of activity,” with this period of less dramatic growth allowing better conditions for workers.

David Leyshon, the MD of multiple Recruiter Award-winning engineering recruiter CBSbutler, says conditions are already improving. “We understand that there have been steps already made and it continues to be the case,” he says.

One example is the Mandatory Standards of Migrant Worker's Welfare for Contractors and Subcontractors, a 51-page code published by the Qatar Foundation, which is gaining backing from various quarters.

And he also tells recruiter.co.uk that there is no “major concern” at CBSbutler that their candidates will be put off going to work in Qatar based on recent bad publicity for Qatar.

“Most professional people would have a moral view on this and have a concern… one can’t ignore this,” he says. “It can be a barrier for some however we recognise that there is a significant number of large projects who employ on very much Western health & safety and conditions, so you can’t take these examples as indicative of everything going on out there.”

Wellington’s Carroll agrees. “I don’t think it will put people off… it’s too big a project,” he says. However, he adds that this could act as a “kick up the backside” for Qatar, saying: “They’re not going to want to get themselves a bad name.”

In addition, Leyshon also tells recruiter.co.uk that he understands from conversations he has had with businesses and officials in the region that there is a very strong chance the tournament will be moved to winter, rather than being held in the summer.

• Click for more engineering recruitment news and views from recruiter.co.uk, or see last year’s Global Spotlight on Qatar from the print edition of Recruiter.