Abu Dhabi: Despite initiatives made to boost numbers of Emiratis in the public and private sector, lack of work experience and high salary expectations remain key challenges in the application of Emiratisation strategies, Gulf News learnt during the sixth annual Emiratisation forum held in the capital.
The two-day event, which ended on Tuesday, was organised by the Abu Dhabi University Knowledge Group (ADUKG) and focused on learning lessons from current Emiratisation efforts and developing future strategies for UAE national recruitment.
The forum was inaugurated by Ali Rashid Al Ketbi, chairman of Abu Dhabi Tawteen Council, who highlighted the importance of improving private sector Emiratisation schemes.
On the sidelines of the forum, the Group released the results of its 2015 Emiratisation research, which focused on public and private sector Emiratisation strategies.
The research found that less than 75 per cent said that they had set an annual Emiratisation target, with 69.1 per cent believing their target was an achievable goal, while nearly 20 per cent of these organisations said they were targeting between 91 and 100 per cent Emiratisation.
“Our research has found that important progress is being made with Emiratisation strategies across the UAE. This is reflected in our own experience, where we have seen some significant efforts from the public and private sector organisations that ADUKG has worked closely with. There has been a real focus on sourcing suitable positions and on boosting skills and experience in areas such as high-level managerial skills, language training and IT abilities,” Dr Ahmad Badr, CEO of ADUKG, said.
Additionally, the research showed that the list of key Emiratisation challenges that organisations face has not changed within the last five years including lack of work experience, high expectations in terms of salary, benefits, and conditions, and low availability of Emirati candidates for senior level and highly technical positions.
The Abu Dhabi Tawteen Council has implemented several initiatives to enhance its coordination with the private sector and higher education institutions to raise Emiratisation in the private sector.
As reported earlier by Gulf News, among 900,000 Emiratis in the UAE, only about 0.5 per cent are employed within the private sector, which generates only around 6,000 job opportunities for Emiratis annually.
The sixth annual Emiratisation forum saw more than 200 professionals and experts from Etihad Airways, Emiratis National Development Programme, Masdar Institute and the Zayed Foundation, who highlighted the various initiatives and training programmes to boost Emiratisation.
