Adey, Genesis--What we are talking about is jobs as an extension of the welfare state and the problematic entitlement mentality of many Qataris--often the same ones with enormous personal debts and a bitterness that the government and banks don't write some of it off. The fact that a handful of people can't be fired without causing such a stir (and that they can complain their way back into employment) underlines this. This is serious, long-term problem.

I agree that calling it 'retirement' is ridiculous. Redundancy is a more appropriate term. Nevertheless to get fired from a government ministry like this suggests these individuals were very likely underperforming (and that is to put it in the tamest language possible). By all means offer them more training, but lack of training opportunities are probably not the problem here for most of them.