ABU DHABI // More than half of young Emiratis in a survey would welcome the challenge of work in the private sector.
Of the 100 students polled at the Young Emirati Forum, part of the Tawdheef exhibition, 37 said they were willing to join the private sector and 20 said they wanted to be entrepreneurs.
Forty-three said they preferred government jobs.
Asked if they believed working in the private sector would be challenging, 67 said yes, 18 were not sure and 15 said no.
Those who preferred government employment believed that private-sector jobs were less secure, offered fewer holidays and had longer working hours.
All of the respondents said salary was the factor that would determine whether they accepted a job.
Suhail Masri, vice president of sales for the online recruitment company Bayt.com, agreed there were challenges to encouraging young Emiratis into a private-sector career.
“The biggest issues relating to hiring local talent seems to be perceptions that they may want less hours or more pay, perceptions they may be relatively less competitive when it comes to training and experience, as well as perceptions they may favour a select few limited industries for employment purposes,” Mr Masri said.
He said Bayt.com, which was participating in the Tawdheef exhibition, had more than 165,000 Emirati job seekers using its services to find better career opportunities.
Mr Masri identified factors that could attract more Emiratis to the private sector.
“It could be improved if nationals had access to better educational and vocational training facilities, if there were better coordination between the Government and the private sector, if there were better incentives for the private sector from the Government and better coordination between educational institutes and companies,” he said.
One of the speakers at the conference, Fatma Juma, an Emirati senior associate at PricewaterhouseCoopers, tried to encourage her compatriots into the private sector.
“There is a perception that working hours is a major issue especially when you have a child and family responsibilities. But I don’t think it is a problem at all and can be managed easily,” said Ms Juma, 26, who has a three-year-old child.
The cosmopolitan make-up of many private companies should not be seen as a challenge to Emiratis, she said.
“Being the citizen of a country like the UAE, which has such an international flavour with the cream of international professionals, it is crucial to grab the opportunity,” Ms Juma said.
“The government sector sometimes does not provide such multicultural environment.”
In her experience, many private companies were keen to hire Emiratis.
“In my case, my company was very cooperative and supportive. I feel such interaction will also help international professionals in the country to understand and communicate with Emiratis,” she said.
“Emiratis won’t be treated like aliens if they start working with international staff.”
Ms Juma said that while starting salaries may not match the government sector, “in the private sector career progress is much faster, which eventually leads to more money”.
Emiratis at the Tawdheef exhibition said they had realised there were plenty of opportunities in the private sector.
“My eyes are open now. Earlier I never thought that private organisations can also help me to achieve my career goals,” said Shama Al Dhaheri, 26, who is taking a master’s degree in education at Zayed University.
Abdulla Khoor, 21, a civil engineer student at the Higher College of Technology, said he was not against working in the private sector.
“Right now, my priority is to get a job that enhances my skills and provides me an opportunity to learn in a competitive environment,” Mr Khoor said. “Salary is not a decisive factor at this early stage of my career.”
He said working in a multicultural and competitive environment also attracted him to the private sector.
akhaishgi@thenational.ae
