UAE nationals begrudge lack of job opportunities

ABU DHABI // Qualified Emiratis claim it is difficult for them to find suitable jobs, despite the country’s Emiratisation drive.

Maryam Al Hersi, 33, from Ajman, was laid off in June and has since tried to apply for other jobs in the private sector through recruitment agencies.

“With my strong CV, language, mentality and personality, I applied for jobs through a recruitment agency and was asked to take a leadership position in a governmental entity,” she said.

Companies were being urged to hire Emiratis “yet we are being interviewed and no one gets back to us”, she said.

Ms Al Hersi, who is taking a Master’s degree in special education, said she was also advised by the agency to “tolerate unemployment”.

“Why can’t I find a job in my country? Why is it hard when the positions are available? The Government is looking for innovation and great leadership, so why is this hard?” she said.

“I am told I am over-skilled, but I am not asking for much, just respect for my education level and knowledge.”

Another Emirati, Z D, 37, said her previous company tried to “demote” her after she requested to be transferred to another office.

“I thought if it will be one grade it will be OK and I can work harder, but then they said two grades lower and I felt that my 12 years of experience counted for nothing,” she said.

“When I applied, I was told lower qualifications were needed and I didn’t know where to go. My experience, work and education has to be thrown behind my back,” she said.

Z D said she also asked her employers to train her to work in another department to improve her experience, but her request was refused.

Employment experts, however, believe there are many suitable job opportunities for Emiratis “with the right qualifications”.

“What is important to understand is that Emiratis are a large and diverse social group and it is dangerous to try to make general and essentialist claims about them. If an Emirati wants to work, there are plenty of jobs available,” said Dr Peter Hatherly-Greene, director of learning at Emarise.

He said, however, the real challenge for Emiratis was balancing the desire for security, job development opportunities, good hours, benefits and compensation, family and social pressures against their own dreams and desires when looking for the right kind of work.

Dr Hatherly-Greene said family, community, and quality of education, all had a role in shaping the way Emiratis looked at jobs. He said that some schools “fail to deliver and structure learning in an exciting, innovative, student-centred, and engaging way” leaving students without the “skills and cultural fluency they need to thrive in the UAE’s multicultural society”.

He believed to “achieve what the leaders of this country have envisioned for their people” Emiratis needed to be “stretched, challenged and supported to develop the fundamental skills”.