UAE companies ‘blinkered to good talent’
▶ Recruiters say candidates from abroad are chosen by nationality not merit, which is bad for the country’s skill base
Employers in the UAE are discriminating against people from certain nations when advertising for staff, recruitment professionals said.
The practice is so widespread that most companies in the region are guilty of favouring candidates from certain backgrounds or countries.
Recruitment professionals say those companies are shooting themselves in the foot by not having a level playing field.
“With the exception of Emiratisation, which obviously is in the interest of the country, there should be no preferences when it comes to hiring one expat over another,” said Mohammed Osama, managing director of Gulf Recruitment Group.
“It should never be about country, religion or race.”
A look through the jobs section on Dubizzle reveals advertisements that say candidates need to be from a certain background or gender.
One advert, for an account sales executive, says it is important the candidate be female and who can provide a photograph and CV to a WhatsApp address as emails will not be answered.
Another says that only women need apply for the position of “HR executive/secretary”.
An advert for an account business executive is clear the job is open only to women who “must be presentable”.
In another, Indian women are the only candidates to be considered for the role of a business development manager.
“I have witnessed first-hand how companies put restrictions on who can apply for a job,” Mr Osama said.
“They end up hiring the wrong people. I have seen companies rise and fall based on their recruitment policies and the more successful companies all have the attitude of getting the right person on board, regardless of background.”
Mr Osama said that while a large percentage of companies make their preferences clear in job listings, that figure rises when they talk to recruiters about who they want to hire.
“They make it clear they want someone from a certain background or country,” he said.
It might not be racism to want candidates only from some countries, Mr Osama said, but it was still clearly discrimination.
“It is quite common for people to want to hire someone from the same country they are from,” he said. “It is not unusual for people to want to grow their own clans within companies.”
He said that an insistence on hiring people from similar backgrounds has become a factor for many companies.
“Merit is no longer the top criteria for companies that are hiring staff in the UAE,” he said. “A lot of good people are not getting looked at.”
He said the discrimination works both ways because it is not always companies simply looking for western workers.
“I have seen a lot of good western expats get affected by it,” he said. “Companies can insist that candidates be Arabic speakers when often there is no need for it.”
One such case is UAE resident Gemma Pugh.
“A few years ago in a job interview I was told I was too white and too feminine,” she said.
The interview was for a learning and development specialist and she said the recruitment team contacted her.
“Then I met with one of the senior managers about the role and their comments were just bizarre,” Ms Pugh said. “I’m a white female. There is not a lot I can do about it.”
Mr Osama said he completely understood why companies discriminate when hiring: “Their thinking is they want to hire someone from a culture they are familiar with.
“If a Lebanese person, for example, wants to hire somebody they will be confident they will eventually be able to find someone from their own nationality who ticks all the boxes.”
Employers would rather hire a candidate from their own country that scores well in terms of suitability for the job than an excellent candidate who is perfectly suited but is from another country, Mr Osama said.
“The reasoning behind this is they believe a candidate from their own country will adapt easier to the established culture in that company,” he said.
More robust employment laws when it comes to hiring would greatly improve the quality of companies across the region, Mr Osama said.
Ian Jenkins, a manager with Dubai recruiter Carter Murray, agreed companies that put a potential employee’s nationality at the top of the list are missing out.
“I would always advise clients to focus on skills they need as opposed to any other factor,” Mr Jenkins said. “Nationality plays no role in how effectively a candidate can execute the required duties for a role, assuming they have the necessary skills and experience.”
He echoed Mr Osama’s view that stricter rules of recruitment would be to the region’s benefit, using his experience in the UK as an example.
“I’d say that the UK, where I previously worked, had stronger legal support to discourage discrimination than countries in the Middle East in general,” Mr Jenkins said.
“This legal cover includes not just nationality but a wide range of characteristics.”
I have seen companies rise and fall based on their recruitment policies MOHAMMED OSAMA Managing director Gulf Recruitment Group