Emiratis must not be hired just to meet quotas, summit told



ABU DHABI // Emiratis must not just be hired just to fill a quota, an industry leader has warned.

UAE nationals should be and feel an important part of the workplace, said Mona Mohammed Fekri, head of human resources at the manufacturing company Ducab, as she addressed the Emiratisation Summit on Monday.

“Are we driven by numbers? Are we driven because the Government told us that companies need to have a significant quota [of Emiratis]?” Ms Fekri said, as she participatd in a panel discussion on the current state of Emiratisation, looking at how the private sectors can reach the best young UAE nationals.

“This is a really damaging approach because what we are doing is looking at numbers, but you are not given any value or experience to those individuals.

"Are you really solving the problem? Or are you creating a bigger problem?" she asked.

“Some people find this a strong opinion but really, if I am looking at any private-sector company or any business, then any individual who occupies a role, it is at a cost to the company and you have to utilise that cost.”

She said if companies were hiring employees just to meet a mandate then they were doing the individual no good.

“A lot of UAE nationals, they do not see that level of interest,” she said, as she urged companies to recognise the quality of Emiratis in the private sector and to promote a better learning experience.

She said perhaps some employers had a misconception of Emiratis’ work ethic.

“Emiratis today are a different generation. They are a different ball of energy altogether,” she said.

For years, the Government has made great efforts to try to attract more Emiratis into the private sector.

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, named 2013 the year of Emiratisation and now intends to double the target for the number of Emiratis employed in the private sector.

Discussions at the conference tackled how employees and educational bodies can work together to encourage Emiratis into the private sector and how to build the Emiratisation rate.

In November last year, after two years of studying Emirati unemployment in the private and public sector, the Federal National Council revealed that despite finding thousands of job vacancies, 40,000 nationals were unemployed.

More than 25 speakers are addressing the two-day Emiratisation Summit, which concludes on Tuesday. It is organised by Tawdheef, the Emirati careers and recruitment organisation, which is running a careers fair until Wednesday at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre.

jbell@thenational.ae

West Indies v India - Third ODI

India 251-4 (50 overs)
Dhoni (78*), Rahane (72), Jadhav (40)
Cummins (2-56), Bishoo (1-38)
West Indies 158 (38.1 overs)
Mohammed (40), Powell (30), Hope (24)
Ashwin (3-28), Yadav (3-41), Pandya (2-32)

India won by 93 runs

Green ambitions
  • Trees: 1,500 to be planted, replacing 300 felled ones, with veteran oaks protected
  • Lake: Brown's centrepiece to be cleaned of silt that makes it as shallow as 2.5cm
  • Biodiversity: Bat cave to be added and habitats designed for kingfishers and little grebes
  • Flood risk: Longer grass, deeper lake, restored ponds and absorbent paths all meant to siphon off water 
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Price, base / as tested Dh57,000

Engine 1,170cc air/oil-cooled flat twin four-stroke engine

Transmission Six-speed gearbox

Power 110hp) @ 7,750rpm

Torque 116Nm @ 6,000rpm

Fuel economy, combined 5.3L / 100km

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Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham

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The rules on fostering in the UAE

A foster couple or family must:

  • be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
  • not be younger than 25 years old
  • not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
  • be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
  • have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
  • undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
  • A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
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Name: Kumulus Water
 
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Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
 
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Sector: Water technology 
 
Number of staff: 22 
 
Investment raised: $4 million 
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe

Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010

Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille

Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm

Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year

Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”

Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners

TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013 

Cracks in the Wall

Ben White, Pluto Press 

Ms Yang's top tips for parents new to the UAE
  1. Join parent networks
  2. Look beyond school fees
  3. Keep an open mind
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Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
 
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
 
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
 
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
 
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
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