Growing number of workers joining the private sector in the UAE

Since September, the UAE has been implementing plans and measures to encourage the country's workers to move into the private sector. During the last quarter of the year, more than 2,000 Emiratis have changed companies and have taken the plunge into the private sector.

To this end, the government has developed a campaign through a programme known as Nafis, which aims to support the employment of Emiratis to work in the private sector. This project has been developed by Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahyan, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and Chairman of the Education and Human Resources Council, with the active collaboration of the Emirati Talent Competitiveness Council.

In order to effectively implement this manoeuvre, paid training programmes, subsidies for citizens working in the private sector and the offer of support to entrepreneurs working in the public sector who wish to leave it and seek to set up new businesses have been implemented. The main objective of the Presidency of the country is to have 10% of the employees in this division as one of the country's workforces, and to have 75,000 people working in this section by 2026.

To strengthen this plan, a council was held to review the progress of the project and, in addition, to approve a series of new measures to encourage and attract workers to make the change. The meeting was chaired by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Affairs Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed, who stressed the importance of this idea and the key role that this body has played in the campaign. In his own words, in the first 90 days since the project was launched, 2,360 Emiratis have switched sectors.

It is worth noting that in addition to explaining the government's achievements, a second package of initiatives has been outlined to continue the campaign, including improved training for nurses, the creation of several courses for recent graduates to increase their experience in various sectors, and the implementation of a programme to provide career guidance to nurses.

As a result of this operation, Grahannam al-Mazrouei, Secretary General of the Council, said that "more than 330 meetings have been held with representatives of federal and local authorities and representatives of the private sector to identify the private sector's demand for highly qualified employees".

The involvement of the government with a number of its delegates in making this plan a success has been enormous. The meetings have been attended by a number of senior officials including Mohammed al-Gerwagi, Minister of Cabinet Affairs; Hussain al-Hammadi, Minister of Education; Hessa Buhumaid, Minister of Community Development; Abdullah bin Touq, Minister of Economy; Abdulrahman al-War, Minister of Human Resources and Emiratisation; Shamma al-Mazrui, Minister of State for Youth Affairs; Sarah al-Amiri, Minister of State for Advanced Sciences; Ahmad al-Falasi, Minister of State for Entrepreneurship and SMEs; and Jassem al-Zaabi, Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Finance Department. They have all been a key factor in trying to establish this campaign as an unqualified success.

Companies have already started to take the initiative and implement changes. One such company, Majid al-Futtaim, a major nationally renowned brand, which is responsible for the construction of shopping malls, retail shops and leisure facilities, and which operates in both the Middle East and the Maghreb, has already announced the hiring of 3,000 people to support the idea.

Al-Mansoori Specialised Engineering is also committed to training recent graduates to gain experience in the private sector. In addition, one of the largest oil and gas companies has announced that it will hire 500 people to support the hard-working campaign developed by the government.