The hiring of UAE nationals has increased over the past few months as Emiratisation gains momentum and 30,000 jobs could be created for nationals this year.

Global professional recruiting group Hays has noted a continuing drive of Emiratisation initiatives across a larger range of privately owned organisations, throughout multiple industry sectors.

"As a result, it is anticipated that as many as 30,000 private sector jobs will be created in 2019 for UAE nationals – a figure announced recently by the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation," Bridget Connolly, senior business manager of Emiratisation at Hays said in a statement.

The good news for employers is that there is a growing number of skilled Emirati candidates in the market who are willing to work in both public and private sector organisations and whose salary expectations are becoming more aligned to that of expatriate workers. 

However, competition amongst employers for UAE national talent is strong and attraction and retention campaigns – related to learning and development initiatives, corporate culture and brand -- are critical factors to securing the best available talent in the market.

"Development programmes are very important to Emirati candidates as most of them look for long term careers with employers would like to see clear progression plans that support their development and signify longevity of employment,” Connolly said.

Hays cited Etihad and Emirates Airline as examples of supporting Emiratisation for a long time with a range of development schemes.

Work-life balance is an important factor for Emirati professionals when considering employers as many have very strong family ties and commitments outside of work, to which they dedicate much time to, the report noted.

"Emirati candidates are very brand conscious, keen to work for employers who have strong brand integrity and reputation in the local market," she said.

The report notes that hiring of UAE nationals has its own complexities and requirements.

Employers must therefore manage expectations of candidates, communicating on the status of their application on a regular basis, it said. 

"It is important that the process of onboarding is managed as professionally and efficiently as possible. We have seen on too many occasions employers lose candidates due to the hiring process taking weeks / months longer than anticipated, resulting in a lack of trust in the organisation and loss of interest in the role," Connolly said.

(Writing by Seban Scaria seban.scaria@refinitiv.com, editing by Anoop Menon)

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