Emiratisation

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With the burgeoning UAE local labour force, Emiratisation is a vital process to ensure a smooth transfer of work power back to the local work force.

The process of emiratisation has been pursued aggressively by the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs with success, as we have seen, in sectors such as telecommunications and banking. In April 1999 an agreement giving priority to graduates of the Higher Colleges of Technology (HCT) in recruitment for jobs in both the public and private sectors was signed between HCT and the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs. However, the Ministry is in favor of simultaneous development of the economy and human resources and is reluctant to alienate the private sector by forcing a quota for employment of nationals.

The difficult task ahead is to assist job seekers in finding suitable employment. In the past national graduates have shown a reluctance to enter private sector employment. This was borne out by a recent study entitled 'Attitudes to the Private Sector' which showed that 96.5 per cent of students at Abu Dhabi Women's Higher College of Technology wanted to work after graduation, of which 62 per cent favored the oil sector, a further 48 per cent said they would like to work in the government sector and only a meager 11.5 per cent opted for the private sector. Most students cited high salaries, greater benefits, job security and shorter working hours as their reasons for preferring the state and semi-state sectors.

For more information, please visit www.emiratisation.org