Dubai: The government sees the private sector as the key to boosting employment of UAE nationals, according to Shaikha Lubna Al Qasimi, Minister of Economy.

Currently an overwhelming 91 per cent of the UAE's workforce is made up of foreign workers. Of employable UAE nationals, 88 per cent work in the public sector, favouring its job security, shorter hours and higher compensation.

But Lubna warned that the UAE is scaling back its federal process, requiring less manpower and bureaucracy. She said the UAE must adopt an educational system and work experience programme geared towards private sector jobs if future generations are to compete with expatriates. "The private sector holds the key to Emiratisation it's where the jobs are," Lubna said.

She referred to a recent Gulf News report which stated that the UAE's private sector creates 300,000 jobs every year, enough to absorb 10 times the estimated 33,000 unemployed UAE nationals.

The country's national workforce is often perceived as lacking job experience and demanding high salaries, meaning expatriates boasting hands-on-experience are picked for the top private sector jobs.

To compound the problem, the overwhelming majority of local nationals choose the public sector, with jobs in the military and police high on the list. In terms of working days per year, the public sector is estimated at around 180, compared to 275 for the private sector. But job opportunities in this sector are on the decline.

Another worrying factor is that 40 per cent of the UAE national population, about 320,000 people, are younger than 21.

"These employment challenges must be addressed now or they will rapidly compound as this generation concludes their education and joins the market," Lubna said.

The government's key to reversing current trends lies in increasing on the job experience and adapting educational programmes to be more suited to growth sectors of the economy, a policy it will introduce at high school level.

Growth area: Driving the economic boom

  • Shaikha Lubna warns that there is only single digit growth in the government, while the country's boom is being driven by private sector industries such as construction, travel, tourism, financial services and manufacturing.
  • She has also called on employers to realise the potential of UAE national women, highlighting that there are 1.5 national female high school graduates for every male, but they form just 30 per cent of the county's female workforce.