ABU DHABI // Emiratis must not just be hired just to fill a quota, an industry leader has warned.
UAE nationals should be and feel an important part of the workplace, said Mona Mohammed Fekri, head of human resources at the manufacturing company Ducab, as she addressed the Emiratisation Summit on Monday.
“Are we driven by numbers? Are we driven because the Government told us that companies need to have a significant quota [of Emiratis]?” Ms Fekri said, as she participatd in a panel discussion on the current state of Emiratisation, looking at how the private sectors can reach the best young UAE nationals.
“This is a really damaging approach because what we are doing is looking at numbers, but you are not given any value or experience to those individuals.
"Are you really solving the problem? Or are you creating a bigger problem?" she asked.
“Some people find this a strong opinion but really, if I am looking at any private-sector company or any business, then any individual who occupies a role, it is at a cost to the company and you have to utilise that cost.”
She said if companies were hiring employees just to meet a mandate then they were doing the individual no good.
“A lot of UAE nationals, they do not see that level of interest,” she said, as she urged companies to recognise the quality of Emiratis in the private sector and to promote a better learning experience.
She said perhaps some employers had a misconception of Emiratis’ work ethic.
“Emiratis today are a different generation. They are a different ball of energy altogether,” she said.
For years, the Government has made great efforts to try to attract more Emiratis into the private sector.
Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, named 2013 the year of Emiratisation and now intends to double the target for the number of Emiratis employed in the private sector.
Discussions at the conference tackled how employees and educational bodies can work together to encourage Emiratis into the private sector and how to build the Emiratisation rate.
In November last year, after two years of studying Emirati unemployment in the private and public sector, the Federal National Council revealed that despite finding thousands of job vacancies, 40,000 nationals were unemployed.
More than 25 speakers are addressing the two-day Emiratisation Summit, which concludes on Tuesday. It is organised by Tawdheef, the Emirati careers and recruitment organisation, which is running a careers fair until Wednesday at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre.
jbell@thenational.ae
