Voices of Change: Low-Skilled Migrant Workers' Perspectives on Labour Law Reforms in Qatar

Abstract

In the years preceding the 2022 FIFA World Cup, Qatar introduced a series of labour reforms aimed at strengthening migrant workers' rights, including the abolition of exit permit requirements, the removal of the No Objection Certificate requirement for job changes and the introduction of a universal minimum wage. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with 30 low-skilled male migrant workers conducted in October 2023, this study examines how workers perceived and experienced these reforms in their everyday lives. The findings reveal a nuanced picture that resists binary assessments of success or failure. Many participants described meaningful improvements in job mobility, freedom of movement and living conditions, particularly those who had spent many years in Qatar and were able to compare conditions before and after the reforms. However, the translation of legal change into everyday experience was uneven. Workers continued to navigate their rights through informal information networks, relationships with employers and unequal social and financial resources that often predate migration itself. By centring migrant workers' own voices, this study contributes to a more grounded understanding of labour reform as a socially embedded process shaped by relationships, unequal resources and the everyday contexts through which rights obtain meaning.