Middle East oil and gas sector facing growing workplace challenges

Employers and organisations navigating these challenges must take into account the differences between local laws across the region’s many jurisdictions, national policies, how they structure contracts and the strength of their HR frameworks.

With these challenges unlikely to subside in the short-term, it is important for employers to be prepared and proactive when addressing them.

Talent acquisition and retention

The Middle East is a competitive market for oil and gas talent, with a high demand for skilled technical professionals across the region, driven by competition from national oil companies and global operators.

Restrictive covenants, the use of clauses in legal agreements that limit, prohibit or restrict actions once employment has terminated, are a common feature in employment contracts. The most common types of covenants used in the Middle East are non-compete, non-poach and non-solicit clauses, aimed to stop workers joining an organisation in competition with their current employer and taking clients, customers, suppliers and other key contacts.

Their use is complex. All jurisdictions within the region take different approaches in terms of their use and enforceability. Whilst each jurisdiction will have different requirements, we generally recommend that employers using these clauses should impose non-compete periods of no longer than six to 12 months, to ensure that the length of time is considered reasonable if challenged. The scope of duties and geographical reach should also be limited and carefully crafted to ensure that the clause overall goes no further than necessary to protect the business’s legitimate interests. It is critical that these clauses are tailored and bespoke to each case and in this way, “boiler plate” clauses should be avoided so far as possible.

Some employers have also started to employ long-term incentive plans for ‘good leavers’, which can include not breaching any restrictive covenants. In this context, employers should review their contractual provisions and their incentives to tie together their approach to enforcement of restrictive covenants.

Another challenge for employers is the generational gap caused by younger generations being hesitant to enter traditional oil and gas roles, and retention challenges because of project-based employment and mobility. The sector itself should seek new ways to attract people from STEM and AI backgrounds, alongside women, into oil and gas jobs through new recruitment streams and strategies.

There has been a rise in the use of retention bonuses, as well as flexible working arrangements, to address this challenge.

Workplace investigations

Like the rest of the world, the Middle East is experiencing an increase of awareness of workplace rights and misconduct: both in evolving workplace expectations and accountability that employers have towards their staff; and employee awareness of their rights concerning issues such as bullying, harassment, discrimination, victimisation, misconduct and poor performance reviews.

The rise in complex workplace investigations across the Middle East reflects a broader shift in employment culture — driven by new legal frameworks, enhanced compliance obligations, and greater judicial receptiveness to employee claims. This evolution is also supported by a growing emphasis on transparency, accountability, and whistleblowing protections. Employers are now frequently required to manage sensitive issues such as requests for anonymity, data protection obligations, and even potential criminal conduct, all within the framework of local labour laws and regulatory expectations.

Employers are increasingly adopting investigations not just as a reactive measure to address misconduct, but as a proactive risk management tool. When conducted effectively, investigations help safeguard organisational reputation, reinforce ethical standards, and demonstrate a commitment to fair treatment.

To be effective, investigations must be:

• prompt and procedurally sound, ensuring timely resolution and minimising disruption;
• aligned with local labour laws, including rules on confidentiality, fairness, and data protection;
• supported by clear internal policies, outlining investigation protocols and escalation procedures; and
• handled with impartiality, often through external legal counsel to ensure credibility and defensibility.

One of the issues that may arise due to local laws is whether the person making the complaint wants to remain anonymous, which can impact the rights of the alleged perpetrator to know what the case is and ensure there is a fair process throughout. This must be balanced against credible risk of fear, harm or deterrence from making the complaint.

Anonymous testimony may carry less weight, but one solution is to ask questions on a thematic basis to the alleged perpetrator, rather than putting direct evidence to the individual. Another solution is to validate evidence from other sources like e-mail, CCTV and WhatsApp, and from other witnesses.

Localisation and nationalisation pressures

Like many regions globally, the Middle East is experiencing a marked increase in awareness of workplace rights and misconduct. Employees are more informed about their rights in relation to bullying, harassment, discrimination, victimisation, and performance management. At the same time, employers are facing heightened expectations around accountability and transparency.

This cultural and legal shift has led to a rise in complex workplace investigations, driven by new legal frameworks, enhanced compliance obligations, greater judicial receptiveness to employee claims and growing emphasis on whistleblowing protections.
Employers are increasingly adopting investigations not just as a reactive measure, but as a proactive risk management tool, used to safeguard reputation, reinforce ethical standards, and demonstrate a commitment to fair treatment.

However, investigations are becoming more legally and operationally complex, often involving:

• requests for anonymity, which must be balanced against the alleged perpetrator’s right to a fair process;
• Data protection concerns, especially when handling digital evidence such as emails, WhatsApp messages, or CCTV footage; and
• potential criminal implications, requiring careful coordination between internal procedures and external legal or regulatory bodies.

Best practice approaches

To manage these challenges effectively, investigations should be:

• prompt and procedurally sound, ensuring timely resolution and minimising disruption;
• aligned with local labour laws, including confidentiality, fairness, and data protection requirements;
• supported by clear internal policies, outlining investigation protocols and escalation procedures; and
• handled with impartiality, often through external legal counsel to ensure credibility and defensibility.

Contract structures

The shift from long-term employment models to project-based and contractor models is accelerating in the Middle East, as companies adopt more agile, resilient structures that can better support dynamic business needs and emerging technologies.

As a result, employment models within the oil and gas sector are evolving, adapting and being innovative. There is a growing reliance on transferable skills, especially from adjacent industries, with HR evolving and becoming more deeply integrated within business planning. There is a real shift in focus towards looking at potential employees who have technology-based backgrounds and who have experience working in artificial intelligence or who might have worked in the military.

There is also a genuine need and desire to ensure succession planning, with businesses looking to recruit new talent into the sector, with many organisations working closely with universities and research centres to ensure there is a diverse pool of staff to choose from.

Within all of this, employers must be agile and flexible to meet strict visa requirements throughout the Middle East, with immigration compliance increasingly tied to workforce planning and localisation metrics. Whilst certain countries such as the UAE are encouraging investment for the long term for their expatriate staff with the use of long-term visas such as the golden visa, employers across the region should:

• align visa applications with localisation targets to ensure workforce plans meet both talent needs and regulatory expectations;
• conduct regular immigration audits to verify that visa statuses, sponsorships, and work permits are up to date and comply with local laws;
• build internal immigration expertise or partner with legal counsel to stay ahead of regulatory changes and avoid delays in onboarding;
• use workforce planning tools to forecast visa needs based on project timelines and localisation quotas; and
• create mobility pathways for expatriate staff that support knowledge transfer while complying with nationalisation policies.

By integrating immigration compliance into strategic HR planning, employers can unlock access to global talent while remaining fully aligned with regional employment frameworks.