Exodus of professional workers reshaping Qatar

Doha

FIVE years ago, Samer Habib left the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and moved to Qatar where he opened a restaurant that turned a profit serving Lebanese salads and sandwiches to expats.

In June, the business folded. The European lawyers and Indian clerks who for years frequented Mr Habib's restaurant have been leaving the country in recent months, he said, many laid off in sweeping cuts to public and private companies hastened by a fall in energy prices. "Customers keep coming to me and saying: 'Samer, this is my last sandwich'," he said. "They say it's been a tough year."

Like other Gulf states heavily dependent on energy sales, Qatar - the world's top liquefied natural gas export…