Options on labour open - Al Tayer

The Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs has assured that while all options for intervening in the labour market are open, it will not act until every individual situation is studied thoroughly.

Matar Humaid Al Tayer, Minister of Labour and Social Affairs, yesterday said that government intervention policies are, so far, limited to only a few economic sectors. Possibility of intervention in new sectors is being studied and the ministry is supporting proposals that offer more jobs to UAE nationals.

"This includes making changes in the number of working hours, the shift pattern from two split shifts to one straight shift and the number of working days," Al Tayer said.

The insurance sector is given a grace period till the end of next year to employ nationals, making them 15 per cent of its workforce. The sector will be asked to raise it by five per cent every year, Al Tayer told the MashreqBank Forum.

"Nationals constitute less than 10 per cent of the country's labour force. They are mainly concentrated in the government sector, at the federal and local levels (81.2 per cent). Nationals account for less than two per cent in the private sector, a major employer in the UAE (52.1 per cent)."

On the challenges facing the government, Al Tayer said: "The private sector still depends on expatriates as the main source of its workforce. National women are increasingly participating in the labour force despite low demand for female employees (females form 70 per cent of the total national job-seekers registered with Tanmia).

"To cope with the labour market realities and to address the challenges, the UAE authorities must consider a number of options (see box).

"The increasing number of job-seekers registered with Tanmia indicates an unemployment problem, which needs to be addressed before it aggravates, leading to undesirable economic, social and political repercussions.

"A Tanmia survey on the factors influencing nationals' employment and retention in the private sector indicated that 54 per cent of the nationals believe an attractive package is important for joining a job while 30 per cent indicated that they are interested in jobs with reasonable working hours and conditions.

"Others think work environment, especially for women, and good representation of nationals at the work place are attractive to nationals. Other factors that attract nationals to work are clear career progression and development, proximity of workplace to residence, and job security."

Quoting another study on factors causing high turnover and attrition among the nationals worked out by Tanmia, Al Tayer said: "Lack of national retention strategy in the private sector is driven by the unjustified claim by 75 per cent of the employers believing that the cost of nationals overburdens their budgets.

"There is a stereotype by 69 per cent of the employers that nationals do not have the flexibility to adapt to work environment in the private sector. Coping with the challenge of working in a multinational and a multicultural work environment is another cause of attrition of nationals.

"The number of UAE nationals in the banking sector increased to 3,700 or 23.3 per cent of the total workforce last year, from 1,278 or 9.4 per cent in 1997.

"The implications of intervention in the banking sector are not confined only to an increased number of nationals working in the sector, women's participation, or change of work environment to be more attractive to nationals, but extend to other important areas such as:

* Increasing growth rates of training institutions associated with the banking sector, in terms of both number and standard.

* Setting an example of a private sector that is capable of attracting the national labour force by providing employment, retention and enhanced career development opportunities.

* Setting an example of a private sector having the potential for using high-level technology and at the same time, developing the national workforce to efficiently deal with such a technology

"The banking sector sets a unique example for enhancing participation of the nationals in the private sector, characterised by high intake numbers, wide opportunities for female employment, and the creative enhancement of the work environment, making it more attractive to the national workforce.

"Other segments of the private sector are encouraged to pursue the successful model mentioned above and to partner with Tanmia in developing a strategic and mutually beneficial experiences," Al Tayer said.

Recommendations of Al Tayer:
* Introduce structural changes in the labour market that facilitate intensive use of capital to ultimately reduce foreign labour influx, especially unskilled categories of labour.

* Establish specialised organisations to support the development and employment of national human resources.

* Develop and implement intervention policies to enhance the participation of national workforce in the private sector as practiced in most countries of the region.

What Tanmia says
* Employment of UAE nationals faces challenges of the employers taking the easier choice of hiring expatriates without due consideration to the adverse effects in the medium and long-term.

* The negative stereotype of the employers towards the UAE nationals requires great awareness efforts to change.

Likewise, this needs additional effort from national job seekers as well.

National jobseekers want
* An attractive package
* Reasonable working hours and conditions
* Good work environment, especially for women
* Good representation of nationals at the work place
* Clear career progression and development
* Proximity of workplace to residence
* Job security