The Dubai government had always found it difficult to match the supply and demand sides of the country’s job market and hence had to depend on professionals abroad to fulfill a large number of vacancies. The demographic composition of Dubai had played its part to bring about the present crisis. A large portion of qualified nationals are young and inexperienced. On top of that, nearly half the population is under the age of 18, meaning that they cannot contribute to the economy in any significant way. Hence recruiters have to look elsewhere to find experienced personnel for roles entailing more responsibility.
Compounding the situation is the widespread belief that foreign nationals have better work ethic than indigenous workers. This belief is not completely misplaced. The regions from which most workers are drawn are South and South East Asia. Both the regions suffer harsh economic realities which makes their workers more competitive and more driven. There is also a tendency for locals to prefer public sector jobs to private sector ones for reasons of job security and easy working conditions. This scenario all but pushes corporations to count on foreign workers.
Authorities and policy makers have come up with some ideas to address this concern. In what is commonly known as the Emiratisation initiatives, an array of programs have been proposed and implemented toward a more acceptable situation. One such program involves encouraging experienced expatriates to pass on their valuable knowledge to the younger generation. Although this seems sound theoretically, the results so far have fallen short of expectations. And it is understandable too. For any professional his/her knowledge and expertise will fetch returns only as long as it remains exclusive. As one would expect, few would willingly join a program that might jeopardize their livelihoods. Not only did the policy makers fail to see this obvious conflict of interest, they also seem unwilling to offer attractive incentives to expatriates to participate in the program. It is futile to hope that feelings of patriotism will prevail over instincts for survival.
Another idea that was tossed about is introducing private sector quotas for nationals. Although this move would ensure greater employment opportunities for the locals, the country’s economy would inevitably suffered as a result of not employing best available talent. Quotas still exist in public sector enterprises, especially in banking and finance sectors. But such impositions on the private sector are a relatively new development. The labor ministry, in a recent emiratisation drive had issued directives to private sector organizations to replace all their foreign staff working in the capacity of human resource managers and personnel managers with locals. The directive is met with disapproval from the private sector, which had long remained insulated from quota restrictions. Such protectionism in the form of quotas cannot be good in the long run.
In an effort to facilitate its emiratisation program, the Ministry of Labor had proposed a plan to close down all recruiting agencies and bringing the task under its purview. This is intended to have an indirect effect on the foreign work force. For example, the private agencies have long had a reputation of exploiting its enrollees by demanding greater work hours from them for less than usual pay. It is argued that by making the work standards of foreigners and nationals similar, expatriates recruited through the government agency will show greater loyalty toward their benefactors. This in-turn will help strengthen the national work-force as any effective knowledge transfer program need be carried out on a long term basis. It remains to be seen how effective this radical move is going to prove.
The reasons why the Dubai government had to go out of the way in creating job opportunities for its citizens can be understood by taking a look at the region’s history. Education had never been given importance to in a traditionally business centered culture. In the present day, the educational infrastructure is unremarkable and incapable of catering to the growing needs of the region. On top of that, foreign labor had always been cheaper when compared to local labor. This meant that a recruiting industry had emerged around South Asian émigré workers. Any emiratisation move is obviously not in the best interests of either the émigrés of the agencies recruiting them. These agencies, with the help of political influence had long sustained the status quo. Hence, a greater political will is required to negate this evident inertia.
Moreover, in managerial roles, knowledge translates into experience. No amount of theoretical training can act as a substitute for actual hands on experience. Hence, for Emiratisation initiatives to be successful, a comprehensive program to retain experienced nationals in the work-force is important. Equally important is a monitoring program that will provide constant feedback so that the program is tuned in to the current economic and political developments. The Dubai administration’s results show inadequacy on both counts.
The government had been slack in its naturalization efforts thereby failing to retain the moving flux of skilled workers. Most foreigners visit Dubai on temporary commissions and the hostile conditions for naturalization had inevitably seen them go back home. This situation could be turned around by encouraging cultural diversity and religious tolerance. Dubai being a predominantly Islamic society is also quite traditional, which discourages foreigners from other communities to make it a permanent residence. Without addressing these two sensitive and important aspects of its labor force, no amount of cosmetic policy changes will have any significant impact. What is required is an overhaul of the existing system and the introduction of a liberal and contemporary one.
Works Cited:
1. www.gulfnews.com/labour
2. www.ameinfo.com