Two Percentage Points a Year of Emirati Hires — Epoche B1
In the United Arab Emirates, a private company with fifty or more employees must raise the share of Emiratis in its skilled jobs by two percentage points every year, moving towards ten per cent, and it pays a monthly fine for each post it has not filled. We spoke to the head of human resources at a logistics company in Dubai, who asked to be named only by her job. Does a quota really change who applies? It changed who we look for. Before, we said that Emiratis do not want private-sector work: the government pays better, the hours are kinder, so why would they come? That sentence was comfortable, and it was doing no work. Now I have a target, a deadline and a bill. What made it stop being true? Two things pushing from opposite sides. The fine makes an empty Emirati post expensive for me. And Nafis, the federal programme, tops up an Emirati's salary in a private company, so our offer can stand next to a ministry's. One half is a stick for the employer, the other half is money for the worker. Neither half would have worked alone. And the cost? The quota creates real jobs, and it creates paper ones. Some firms hire a national, register the name, pay a small wage and never expect the person at a desk. The ministry now audits payrolls and looks for staff who never appear, which tells you that the practice exists. So is the rule working? Ask me about the desks, not the percentage. A number can be reached in two ways, and only one of them teaches anybody a trade. My work this year is to make sure our figure is the honest kind. References United Arab Emirates Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation (2022). Emiratisation Targets in the Private Sector (Cabinet Resolution No. 18 of 2022). Government of the United Arab Emirates. Emirati Talent Competitiveness Council (2021). Nafis Programme. Government of the United Arab Emirates.