Nearly 50% Of Finance Sector Workers Say Emiratisation Doesn’t Add Value

Around 45 per cent of financial sector employees in the UAE believe that emiratisation does not add value to a business, a new survey has found.

According to a survey by eFinancialCareers, two-thirds of respondents said that localisation would add value to front offices, but just 14 per cent said that it would be useful to back offices.

The majority of those polled said that a bulk of local recruitment was happening at graduate level, which puts an onus on financial institutions to formulate a sound retention strategy.

“Emiratisation is a key focus for governmental entities across the UAE, and major banks such as the Emirates Islamic Bank are making it central to their talent development strategy,” said James Bennett, global managing director of eFinancialCareers.

However, he added that nationalisation targets could be a challenge for recruiters.

“There are just not enough experienced and trained UAE nationals to meet the talent requirements of the financial industry, and this will only get harder with the government’s new targets.”

The survey comes in the wake of Tawdheef Career Fair in Abu Dhabi, which showcases job opportunities for UAE nationals across both the private and public sectors.

Many major banks have launched aggressive emiratisation campaigns while some have made changes to their work place flexibility to attract more nationals.

National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD) has revealed plans to recruit over 100 Emiratis this year while institutions such as National Bank of Fujairah and Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank are looking to increase their Emirati workforce.

Standard Chartered has introduced a part-time work scheme to attract more Emirati employees, it said in a statement ahead of Tawdheef.

Under this programme, employees can request to shift from full time work to part time work in order to pursue their education.

Employees taking part in this scheme will also be allowed to reduce their working hours from eight hours to a minimum of four, subject to necessary management approvals and bank policies.