Emiratis warm to private sector
More local youth are seeking jobs outside the civil service, companies say
DUBAI // Jobs in factories, retail, sales and petrol stations are among the positions on offer for Emirati youth at this year’s Careers UAE fair. More young Emiratis are warming to the idea of working for private companies, a slow shift from the popular demand for government jobs, say recruiters at the three-day event at the World Trade Centre.
“There is no longer this gap between the private and public sectors,” said Zohair Al Haj, director of human resources and localisation at Al Futtaim Group.
“There is much more ambition and desire for career development among young Emiratis.
“Most are now educated in private schools and are ready and willing to work in multicultural and diverse environments, as opposed to five to 10 years ago when nationals came from public schools where they only saw other nationals.”
Mr Al Haj said there were 300 Emiratis working in retail, sales and customer service at Al Futtaim Group.
The pool of talented Emiratis was bigger than ever, he said, but the challenge in hiring them lay in whether they have the right attitude.
“They have to be ready to enter this environment, be able to mingle and work in the private sector as well as understand the competitive nature [of private enterprise],” said Mr Al Haj.
At the stand of Emirates National Oil Company ( Enoc), staff were keen to hire Emiratis to work as petrol station managers.
Emirati visitors to the 2016 jobs fair comprised 47 per cent of the people that Enoc hired last year, and Emiratis made up 35 per cent of the company’s workforce, said Abdallah Saleh, Enoc’s Emiratisation manager. He said Enoc was investing in Emirati workers by training them from the ground up.
One Emirati, who joined Enoc last year, spoke to prospective employees at this year’s jobs fair, said Mr Saleh.
“He is in charge of one of the Enoc sites and we are very proud of him,” he said. “He was a highschool graduate when we hired him. He works with us in the mornings and continues his studies in the evenings, and we brought him here today to share his experiences.”
At the jobs fair, representatives from Emirates Global Aluminium were offering positions at its factories in Abu Dhabi and Dubai. But they were finding it hard to recruit Emiratis for positions that require irregular work shifts.
Emirates Global Aluminium, which has 1,200 Emiratis in its 7,000-strong workforce, aims to fill 200 more positions.
“It is important for us to find people who are willing to be flexible and do shift work,” said Sultan Al Bastaki, a recruitment manager at the company.
Last month, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, urged Emirati youth to seek private-sector jobs so as to shape the UAE’s future and to stop thinking of government employment.
Zahra Shaikh, a recruitment manager at PepsiCo, said there had been a gradual shift among Emirati jobseekers towards the private sector. “We are slowing seeing a changing trend. Many Emiratis are now showing interest in the private sector but some challenges remain,” she said.
“I think one of the reasons why some Emiratis prefer the public sector is because they’re passionate about their country and want to serve the Government.”
Ms Shaikh also said that PepsiCo was working with universities to highlight job opportunities in the private sector.