Hire Emiratis for admin jobs, FNC session hears
abu dhabi — Currently, 8,000 administrative jobs in the government sector are being filled by expats in the UAE, which should be filled by Emiratis instead, the Federal National Council (FNC) heard on Wednesday.
During a discussion chaired by FNC Speaker Dr Amal Al Qubaisi, members raised questions about the high unemployment rates among Emiratis to Dr Ahmad Belhoul Al Falasi, chairman of the Federal Authority for Human Resources and Minister of State for Higher Education.
Salem Al Shehhi, FNC member from Ras Al Khaimah, said he knows thousands of Emiratis who are struggling to find jobs.
“Locals are asking today: When are we going to be recruited?”
An FNC report revealed there are 8,000 administrative jobs in the public sector which are currently filled by expats. The FNC members pointed out that these jobs could be Emiratised instead.
Al Shehhi added: “The federal government has a strategy now to hire new employees to replace those no longer serving, and this strategy will continue until 2021. So what about the thousands of graduates, where will they go?”
Saeed Al Rumaithi, FNC member from Abu Dhabi, said he believes there are at least more than 30,000 administrative government positions filled by expats.
The minister, however, said there will be 7,685 job vacancies for Emiratis in 2018. “The role of the authority is to support and save jobs for thousands of Emiratis in the federal government,” added Dr Al Falasi.
Al Shehhi, on the other hand, pointed out that the 7,685 jobs are not enough, in comparison to the number of graduates.
“Today, we already have thousands of jobless Emiratis; imagine how many we will have by 2021? The 7,000 job vacancies do not mean much, when compared to the number of graduates in the job market,” he added.
Other major concerns
Members also raised concerns about the amount of leave that government employees are entitled to, if the employee has to travel abroad to accompany a family member for medical treatment. “The system is programmed to give only 15 days leave to accompany family for medical treatment and this rule needs to be amended, especially if the patient has to travel long distance,” said Hamad Al Rahoomi, FNC member from Dubai.
“I am talking about a psychological situation; for anyone who discovers that his family member has a serious illness, it is a difficult matter.”
FNC members thus recommended that employees should have more than two weeks of leave if they need to travel abroad for family medical circumstances.
The members also raised concerns
Today we already have thousands of jobless Emiratis; imagine how many we will have by 2021?” Salem Al Shehhi, FNC member from RAK
The role of the authority is to support and save jobs for thousands of Emiratis in the federal government.” Dr Ahmad Belhoul Al Falasi, chairman, Federal Authority for Human Resources
The system is programmed to only give 15 days leave to accompany family for medical treatment and this rule needs to be amended, especially if the patient has to travel long distance.” Hamad Al Rahoomi, FNC member from Dubai
about working mothers in the public sector.
They said the working mothers should be given two hours of breastfeeding-time every day after maternity leave period ends.
The current law, however, states that the two hours of breastfeeding-time starts from the day the mother gives birth.
Members also raised questions about the amount of leave employees are entitled to, if a family member passes away.
The members said the current death leave for employees is limited, adding that it contradicts with the emotions of losing a loved one and also contradicts with the ability of the family to grieve and recover efficiently.
However, Dr Al Falasi said adding more days to death leave is not possible, as it will disrupt the work flow.