Abu Dhabi: Public shareholding companies have a responsibility towards both the community and environment and should be committed to include corporate social responsibility as part of their culture, the Federal National Council stated.

“With 2017 being declared as the Year of Giving, corporate entities in the UAE are asked to show how they have aligned the nationwide initiative with their corporate social responsibility,” Naama Al Sharhan, a member from Ras Al Khaimah, told the House as she quizzed Saqr Gobash Saeed Gobash, Minister for Human Resources and Emiratisation about Emiratisation in joint-stock companies.

Al Sharhan, who was the only women out of 78 candidates to win a seat in 2015 elections, said these companies made fortunes in the UAE and must contribute towards uplifting the less privileged in the society where it operates by offering more jobs, better salaries to citizens and focusing on implementing corporate social responsibility initiatives.

Al Sharhan said these companies have billions in capital and are making fortunes as they operate on UAE soil.

“It is unacceptable and shameful that in a country where people from around the world are looking for jobs, many citizens remain unemployed,” Al Sharhan said.

Al Sharhan argued with an estimated 80 per cent of residents in the UAE being foreigners, the country’s workforce is probably one of the most diverse in the world.

The member said complementing the UAE’s efforts at attracting global talent has also been an emphasis on developing Emirati resources to play an active role in the development of their country.

Gobash said his ministry was making a national employment policy, focusing on major businesses, such as joint stock companies and their role in Emiratisation.

“These companies have a legal obligation and we have powers to enforce our plans,” Gobash said, stressing that the newly formed Education and Human Resources Council will contribute to implementing these policies.

Gobash added that a new Emiratisation Award will be proposed to the council to encourage emiratisation, particularly in remote areas, where majority of Emirati women find it difficult to secure jobs.

Gobash argued that attracting top-notch Emirati talent to the private sector and matching education to labour market requirements continues to be a challenge.

The UAE government has been keen to attract more of its citizens to the private sector to diversify the economy and ease pressure on state finances.

Members of the FNC have repeatedly demanded Emiratisation quotas be introduced in all private companies and salaries subsidised by the government.

A recent report by the House said Emiratisation efforts lack strategic planning, tangible results and coordination between various organisations in charge of employment and training of job seekers.

There are 3.8 million jobs in the private sector, of which at least 800,000 jobs can be filled by citizens. But just 20,000 to 30,000 Emiratis are employed in private businesses, while the line of job seekers is constantly growing, according to the report.

Emiratis, by and large, still perceive the public sector to be a more attractive employer, for reasons ranging from superior employment benefits to a lack of awareness of private sector opportunities. One of the priorities for the nation has therefore been to encourage greater participation of Emiratis in the private sector.

The partial quota system, stipulating a minimum percentage of private sector employees as UAE nationals, was proposed as a solution. It was first used in the banking sector, with a 1996 law specifying that at least four per cent of bank employees had to be Emirati, with this minimum expected to be increased year on year. This system was broadened in late 2010, with the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation announcing that Emiratis should account for no less than 15 per cent of the total staff at every UAE-based company.