US
Western bankers might be queuing up to enter the UAE, but it seems the focus of many of the region’s largest financial players is very much on developing a pipeline of local talent.
The thorny issue of Emiratisation has never been higher on the agenda, at a time when financial institutions have the option of a beauty parade of international talent, following the jobs bloodbath in the West.
While many local institutions are welcoming the influx of international expertise, particularly at the more senior level, they seem committed to nurturing local talent lower down the pecking order.
Sovereign wealth fund (SWF) the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), for instance, this year targeted local high school students, with a view to footing the bill for their university education, provided they joined the firm upon graduation. Around 400 applied and 18 have been recruited.
Cynics might argue that this is just a way to secure local talent early, in order to fulfil increasingly onerous localisation targets, which require at least 30% of staff to be Emiratis.
ADIA doesn’t deny the competition is tough. Speaking to the Financial Times, Mohamed Hajeri, head of recruitment at the SWF, said: “The challenge is now that so many organisations are fighting for [young talent]. That’s a healthy situation, of course, because it puts pressure on all of us to prove that we offer an attractive place to work, learn new skills and build a long-term career.”
The region’s largest banking group, Emirates NBD, says it intends to increase the proportion of Emiratis working at the firm to 34% by the end of 2009, and is upping efforts to sway graduate talent to its ranks.
“We have adopted an ambitious strategy for growth and Emiratisation that reinforces our ongoing efforts to encourage local young talent to join the banking sector,” says H.E. Ahmed Humaid Al Tayer, chairman of the bank.
Similarly, the likes of First Gulf Bank, RAK Bank, Emirates NBD and the National Bank of Abu Dhabi all have graduate schemes aimed solely at locals.
But if the banking sector is making headway with Emiratisation, the insurance industry is in need of an injection of local talent. Of the sector’s 6,320 employees in the UAE, just 677, or 6%, are locals, according to government figures.
iam with
but for what we are here ?
to make the graet mix to increase the productivity .
becouse at the end it is team work which mean’s
to gether every body achive more
any way i like emirates and i want emirates high and higher
thanks
mohamed hamdy