Abstract
Countries in the modern scenario strive to nationalize their resources. This is the same of the human resource, whereby, governments want to enhance the job opportunities for the local population. This is the scenario in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) where the government is striving to encourage the local population to be involved in the job market. This is achieved through policy changes and cooperation between the government and the private sector. The concept of Emiratisation has been spurred by a high presence of expatriate workforce. This has resulted in high unemployment rates among the local population due to poor training and competition from the expatriates. In order to address the situation is a sustainable manner. The region is adopting the concept of Emiratisation in order to encourage hiring of the local workforce. The research will explore the challenges and the success and challenges of the program in the region.
Introduction
The UAE leadership is proactive in ensuring that the local population is productive in the job market. In addition, the government aims to empower the local population economically. In order to achieve this, the policies and economic strategies in the region have been revised as is evident in the concept of emiritisation. The concept of Emiratisation entails the initiative by the government of the UAE to encourage the local population to be proactive in economic development through the job market. Considering that the employment sector includes a high population of expatriates, the government was looking to reverse this trend by encouraging local participation in the public and private employment sectors. In order for the initiative to succeed, it is essential for the private sector to be engaged since their human resource strategies need to complement the policies of the government. The initiative appears to be a viable and sustainable approach of creating economic growth in the region. However, there are numerous challenges, which impede the process from succeeding. The research will determine if the process of Emiratisation is successful and the challenges involved in the process.
The Emiratisation initiative was unveiled to encourage social and economic development by addressing the high rates of unemployment among the locals in the region. The process was looking to facilitate inclusive development whereby every citizen in the region was involved in a meaningful economic activity. Considering this ambition, it is crucial to analyze how the initiative was affecting the operations of the private companies in the region. In order to determine this, several questions need to be considered. These questions will relate the concept of Emiratisation with the reaction of the private sector. This is essential since the success of the initiative is dependent to some degree on the private sector. The research will identify the motivational approach used by the government in order to encourage local employment. In addition, the strategies of the government to increase the number of locals in the private sector are also a crucial aspect to be considered. This will entail the description of the plans by the UAE government. This topic was crucial considering the unique circumstances in the region’s job market where a the locals are inadequately involved in the private sector.
This topic was preferred since the region has a unique situation whereby the locals are not involved in the private sector. The research aims to find satisfactory rationale for the reasons why the locals were not involved in the sector, and the appropriate solution for attracting this demographic to participate in the sector.
Literature Review
In order to comprehend the significance of emiritisation, and how it will influence the social and economic environment of the UAE, it is crucial to engage the existing documentation about the topic. This will involve identification of relevant literature on the topic in order to answer the research topic effectively. The literature will provide the required insight and depth essential for answering the research problem comprehensively. According to Al-Ali (2006), the population of UAE, the non-nationals make up 89 percent of the population. This means that a small fraction of the population consists of locals. Despite the disparities in the population percentages between the locals and expatriates, it is evident that there are high unemployment rates among the locals. According to figures, the locals make up 9 percent and 1 percent of the workforce in the public and private quarters respectively. The article by Al-Ali explores the barriers, which are existent for the locals to participate in the job market. This is consistent with the ambitions of the Emiratisation initiative, which aims to increase local employment rates. The author also suggests strategies that can be used to enhance the success of the initiative. The author identifies three areas that are crucial for the success of emiritisation. The areas identified in the article involve personal factors, organizational capital and social capital. Considering the personal factors, Al-Ali cites education, experience and expertise as some of the personal factors, which influence the employment of locals. Organizational capital, on the other hand, represents cultural factors including language, and strategies of human resource. Finally, social capital involves issues of nepotism and gender discrimination. The author bases his arguments on a research, which involved 17 mangers from the region through both open and closed ended research questions. The respondents of the research cited the obstacle of Emiratisation to be the lack of development prospects for the career of locals. In addition, skills, low pay and inadequate training and promotion initiatives were also cited as key contributors. Other factors that were cited in the research included an insufficient work culture, gender inequalities and a negative working attitude by the locals. Considering the sentiments of the respondents, several strategies concerning the aforementioned barriers were developed. These strategies aim to increase local participation in the job market in order to complement the Emiratisation initiative. The strategies aimed to address the issued experienced by the locals in relation to job opportunities and skills for the competitive job market. It is evident that human capital is essential for any business. However, in order for the human capital to be effective it is essential that individuals should have the adequate skills, attitudes and opportunities. According to Al-Ali, for this to be achieved the culture of the region should be influenced to complement the requirement of the job market. For instance, gender biases and nepotism should be discouraged since impede the development of human capital. In addition, the attitude of the locals should also be addressed to create a working culture and environment. It is also essential to ensure that there is an effective training initiative to facilitate the development of skills in order to make the locals competitive in the job market.
Emiritisation is based on the concept of nationalism. This means that the UAE wants to ensure that the local benefit the most from the opportunities and resources present in the region. According to Randeree (2013), the countries in the gulf region have articulated their desire to adopt nationalization. This is evident through the adoption of emiritisation where the locals are encouraged to be proactive in the job market. However, this initiative has experienced numerous hurdles. This is evident in the job market’s reliance on foreign human resources leading to underutilization of the local workforce. The article appraises the success of emiritisation in the region and the limitations, which were experienced due to the policy. In addition, the author provides principles, which may be used to influence the strategies of human resource in the region in order to increase the number of locals in employment. Randeree (2013) states that the economies in the Middle East are not competitive in the global scenario. This can be attributed to the political environmental and social challenges unique in the region. These problems are evident in the UAE, whereby, the society depicts shortcoming in the areas of gender equality, education and skill development. It is evident from the cultural perspective of the region that the government should encourage the participation of Emirati women in the job market. This is a challenge considering that the government has to change their human resource practices to contravene the Islamic and Arabic tradition synonymous with the region. In the analysis of the region, there is evidence of evolution in the HR practices. This is due the influx of foreign multinationals and other investors in the region. This necessitated the region to employ a nationalistic policy in order to ensure that the country maintains its identity. The availability of oil can be attributed as the key factor that spurred rapid growth in the region. This encouraged the influx of foreign nationals who formed the base of the workforce in the region. This aspect is evident in the chart.
Therefore, the article states that a change in the HR strategies is imperative for the region to be successful in it nationalization ambitions. The author explores some of the recommendations on HR strategies, which can be employed in this context.
The issue of emiritisation is also explored in an article by Ra_kul Islam and Ahmad Zaki Ismail. According to Ra_kul and Ismail (2013), the authors explore strategies to motivate employees. Despite the author using a Malaysian perspective, the content is instrumental in determining the strategies, which the UAE government can use to motivate the locals to participate in the job market. According to the authors, the recognitions of the achievements of an individual are a motivational tool. When employees are expected to perform exemplarily in their mandate, it is crucial for their efforts to be recognized as well be the top management. This will enable the organization to reward the employee on merit. Therefore, for emitirisation to be successful, it is crucial for the region to develop an effective reward system for the locals. This will provide an added incentive for their participation in the job market. This approach will have psychological effects since the attitudes of the employees towards work will be influenced positively. According to Ra_kul and Ismail (2013), cash incentives are the most effective motivation. This s consistent with the issue of poor pay, which is being experienced by the locals in the job market of the UAE. Therefore, the article suggests that in order for the government to encourage local participation in employment, it is crucial for the government to ensure that the monetary rewards associated with the employment are attractive to the market. Therefore, despite the perspective of the author being from another region, the recommendations appear to be relevant for the situation in the UAE.
The issue of rewarding the employees is also prominent in the article by Hassan Younies, Belal Barhem and Mustafa Z. Younis. The authors explore the concept according to the perspective of the UAE. According to Younies, Barhem and Younis (2007), the reward and recognition approach has been an effective tool for motivating employees in numerous organizations. When employees are outstanding, they are expecting the relevant authorities to acknowledge their efforts. This requires organizations to have systems for apprising and rewarding individuals in such cases. This system as aforementioned is effective in ensuring that the workforce is motivated to participate in the work environment. Therefore, the UAE should ensure that the locals are adequately motivated to ensure the success of the initiative.
Conclusion
The concept of emiritisation has been initiated by the government in the UAE in order to nationalize the region. This is due to the consideration that the percentage of the local population in the job market is significantly low. In order to encourage local participation in the program, it is crucial for the stakeholders to offer the appropriate incentive. Therefore, the research identifies the issues and recommendations which suit the emiritisation program considering increasing the number of locals in the job market.
References
Al-Ali, A, J. (2006).Emiratisation in the Local Labor Force of the UAE: A Review of the Obstacles and Identification of Potential Strategies. Victoria university. P,1-25.
Hassan Younies, Belal Barhem and Mustafa Z. Younis. (2007). Ranking of priorities in employees’ reward and recognition schemes: from the perspective of UAE health care employees. International Journal Of Health Planning And Management. DOI: 10.1002/hpm.912
Randeree, K. (2013). Strategy, Policy and Practice in the Nationalisation of Human Capital: ‘Project Emiratisation’
Ra_kul, I and Ismail A, Z. (2013). Ranking of employees’ reward and recognition approaces: A Malaysian Perspective. International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM). Retrieved on 28th march, 2013 from < http://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/10809>
