In Pictures: UAE’s private sector focused Emiratisation drive – Nafis – has its work cut out

UAE’s private sector have a job to do – ensure that their intake of UAE Nationals stays close to the broad targets set by the Government. This is where the ambitious ‘Nafis’ programme launched in September last year has its work cut out.

The early outcomes from the programme – which will help UAE Nationals working in the public sector to consider a switch to private – are outright promising.

The number of Emiratis who joined the private sector between September 2021 to March last totalled 5,558, while the number of companies that hired new employees increased to 1,774.

More than 12,000 job opportunities annually for citizens is the wider goal, with an annual increase of 10 per cent for the first 5 years.

In the banking and insurance sector, the authorities are targeting an additional 5,000 jobs in the banking and insurance sector by the end of 2026. The UAE Central Bank - through the Emirates Institute for Banking and Financial Studies - will ‘deliver targeted training schemes to meet the sectors’ future employment requirements, attracting and developing UAE national talent and upskilling competencies of existing Emirati cadre’, the regular said in a recent statement.

Leading UAE business groups are already at it. The Al-Futtaim Group hosted an open day to recruit young Emiratis in line with its Emiratisation strategy ‘Sinyar’. With 814 attending, “We are pleased with the high demand from ambitious Emirati youth to work in the private sector, and in the Al-Futtaim Group in particular,” said Mira Al Futtaim, Chairperson of the newly created Al-Futtaim Emiratisation Council.

Across sectors, with Nafis, the Emiratisation target rate has been raised to 2 per cent annually for high-skill jobs in businesses that employ 50 workers or more.

The decision will provide job opportunities in more than 13,000 establishments in the private sector. Non-compliant companies will have to pay Dh6,000 monthly - starting January 2023 - for every UAE national who has not been employed.

When all the initiatives fall into place, the plan is to seek an 8.5 per cent growth rate for an Emirati workforce in the private sector from 2022 compared to 1.5 per cent in the same period in 2021.

Within that space, there should be a 7.6 per cent growth rate of skilled workers in the private sector. And for 97 per cent of UAE Nationals working in the private sector work to be undertaking skilled jobs.