Qatar: Job cuts a sign of the times

Reports that Al Jazeera, the flagship of Qatar’s projection of ‘soft power’, is preparing to cut hundreds of jobs from its television channels worldwide point to significant shifts in economic and social policy. Al Jazeera America, whose launch cost some $600m in 2013, is expected to be exempt, but cuts at other Al Jazeera stations would fit with the government’s policy of pruning spending by outfits deemed ‘non-essential’, while continuing to push Qatarisation policies. GSN has heard of substantial job cuts at Qatar Museums Authority, Museum of Islamic Art (MIA) and Qatar Foundation (QF), as well as at Qatar Petroleum (QP).