Haseeb’s story: Protecting our contractors and supporting businesses through uncertainty

Oil gas engineering rig

As the world continues to navigate an ever-changing situation, industries, businesses, and people across the globe are facing numerous challenges. Many businesses are having to stall critical projects and as a result, some contractors have been left in uncertain positions.  

However, thanks to the support of Haseeb Yaqub, Recruitment Consultant at our Progressive Recruitment Dubai office, one of our clients in Oman was able to continue a crucial multi-million-dollar project which was under threat, allowing a business to continue thriving and numerous skilled professionals to keep working. 

 

 

Meeting our peoples’ needs 

“When you work in recruitment, some projects can be more complicated than others”, explains Haseeb. This project, in particular, presented challenges from the start. According to Haseeb, “After a recommendation from a client we’d worked with in the past, a frustrated hiring manager got in touch with me – he was really struggling to find the right engineers for this critical project. He’d exhausted all options and just didn’t know what else he could possibly do to find the engineering talent he needed.” 

 

After speaking to the hiring manager and really getting into the details of what he needed, it became clear to Haseeb that if he wasn’t able to help this man then a vital project was going to stall, allowing for the possibility of many people losing their jobs.  “I just couldn’t let that happen”, he explained. 

Despite the challenging job specification, Haseeb was able to find a group of specialist engineers to work on the project. Then another spanner was thrown into the works. Due to the current situation, the UAE denied these contractors the right to travel.  

 

Overcoming challenges 

“The most frustrating thing about this situation was knowing that there was a group of highly skilled people ready and willing to solve this businesses’ challenge, but due to circumstances beyond anyone’s control, they were unable to. It just felt like such a waste for everyone involved.” 

“It honestly felt like the end of the road and I was sadly preparing myself to tell this hiring manager that I just couldn’t see a solution.” However, Haseeb understood the urgency of the situation and knew that he couldn’t give up. By applying his specialist market knowledge, accessing his vast network, and adopting true resilience and determination, he was able to find a solution.  

After a recommendation from another client, Haseeb was eventually put in touch with 55 contractors who had just lost out on work due to a project falling through. All contractors are now on site and the project has been able to continue as planned. For us, this is what bringing skilled people together is all about. 

 

Supporting our people 

As Haseeb had provided such thorough support in the past, he was able to use this connection to help a new business thrive. “The best thing about this for me is that, not only is the project able to continue, but 55 highly-skilled people who were going to be out of a job have now been given the opportunity to put their expertise to use. I’m hopeful that this has given these individuals some degree of stability in a highly uncertain time for all of us.” 

Jelte Hacquebord, Group Managing Director for Benelux, Spain and MENA at SThree, added, “Haseeb lives our purpose of “bringing skilled people together to build the future.” And I’m so happy that, in a time when the world needs these experts the most, Haseeb and the rest of our team are here to help.” 

“It feels good to know that we’re playing a small part in helping businesses to keep going, helping skilled people to keep working, and ultimately doing our bit to help tackle this unprecedented challenge.” 

 

Whether you’re a professional looking for a job or a business seeking highly skilled talent, the team at Progressive Recruitment are here for you.

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