Emiratisation to get a big boost

posted on 11/10/2012: 659 views

Emiratisation is gaining steam in the UAE's private sector with plans to increase the workforce to 200,000 soon. The Emirates National Development Programme (ENDP) has recruited 10,000 nationals in Dubai for various private companies since 2007. Now there are plans to fast-track the programme by launching campaigns and roping in corporates, according to officials.

Essa Al Mulla, Executive Director of the National Workforce Development, said: "In a 2011 study, excluding the non-economically active population, approximately 2.8 per cent of the Emirati population in Dubai were found to be unemployed. We are aiming at a zero per cent unemployment rate in Dubai.”

Authorities said the task of attracting citizens to private companies will be a massive challenge and the ENDP's current priority is to raise awareness among local youth that it pays to work in this sector.

Al Mulla said in Dubai the government can provide subsidies of Dh6.5 billion to eradicate the unemployment problem in UAE, but it will not create a strong workforce. He said that he is personally opposed to providing subsidies and encouraged youth to join different sectors instead.

He was speaking at the launch of the ‘CEO for a Day' campaign for Emirati youth, jointly organised by the ENDP and Horizon Group, a communication company.

The official said a similar campaign was launched a few years ago and met with some success. "The previous campaign was focused on raising awareness among private companies. The main aim of the current campaign is to change the perceptions of local students towards jobs in the private sector.”

"Young Emirati students live under the assumption that there is no opportunity for career growth in the private sector. That must change and we need to expose them to the career benefits of working in the private sector.” He added that flexible working hours, higher pay scales, and more holidays are some of the reasons why young nationals prefer a government job. "We want to focus more on raising awareness towards the project because that is our biggest challenge.”

Yiannis Vafeas, Joint Managing Director of Golin Harris, one of the firms under the Horizon Group umbrella, informed that the campaign currently is open to third and fourth year students of Zayed University.

Interested students can apply for the programme on a dedicated Facebook page for consideration by a team of experienced ENDP human resource specialists.

Vafeas said: "Shortlisted candidates will later be interviewed and the ones selected will shadow a CEO or the managing director of a company for a day. Since 80-100 private companies have already professed interest in the programme, we will be recruiting about the same number of candidates. The campaign will run from December 4-6. We decided to choose 3rd and 4th year students because they are close to enter the workforce.”

The campaign will extend to several industries like telecommunications, banking, retail and tourism.

It hopes to develop into an annual event providing authorities with a long-term marketing tool, which will help promote awareness of the private sector's employment opportunities amongst UAE nationals.

Meanwhile, the Executive Committee of the Abu Dhabi Executive Council reviewed a special report on the Emiratisation Performance Indices of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi in Q2 of 2012. It discussed a number of proposals aimed at raising the percentages of Emiratisation, and activating the electronic portal of Abu Dhabi Tawteen Council.

Chaired by Mohammed Ahmed Al Bowardi, Chairman of the Executive Committee, the meeting called on all government and semi-government agencies to use the electronic portal of Abu Dhabi Tawteen Council to help them in employment process and review of the Emiratisation indices. – Khaleej Times

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