Saudi Arabia had put a time limit on the hiring contract length of expats inside their country and throughout the years local citizens have noticed and are experiencing big improvements and have seen the number of unemployment range reduce rapidly and the increase of employment opportunities for local citizens rise
After the discovery of the UAE oil pipeline the number of expats increased, bringing in educators from all around the world in order to improve and educate locals in order for the UAE to have its own doctors, engineers and give the local citizens the opportunity to develop their kills and have the qualifications and provide high education for children that was not available in the Emirates before.
Throughout the years as we have all noticed, the number of expats has increased rapidly which led to a large decrease in job employment for locals. Workforces seem to not find the right qualifications or enough experience in locals to fill in the position of the expats and this might lead companies to face economic problems and I think this will be one of the main reasons why the idea of Emiratisation will not be accepted in private companies or small companies so they wont go bankrupt.
The UAE has seen so much improvement in self-reliance and have seen local talents and highly educated citizens that are taking their work seriously and In my opinion this is where the UAE should put a limit on the hiring of expats. Its true that there are not enough local citizens with the necessary qualification and experience but it will be a good start and a great motivator.
Expats that have lived and worked in the country for many years are truly a valuable recourse. They have experienced life in our country for many years and are much more understanding to things like our culture as well as the morals of Islam.
Having a time limit for expat laors has many positive impacts especially for local citizens because it will make finding jobs much easier, locals will learn how to depend on themselves from then onwards even though they might rely on expats on many things but having more locals into the private and the public workplace is a good start for locals to develop not only independence but also work experience.
The UAE should start this gradually so that by the time some expats finish their 3 years locals from then can have the chance and the opportunity. As said some locals might not have the qualifications but with practice eventually they will.
As an Emirati I have lived and seen locals work in Carrefour as cashiers and to be honest, that has never happened before. Seeing them working for such low payments prove that they are willing to do anything for a better living. Emiratisation will benefit locals but at the same time might concern business owners who have valuable expats with great experience that might not be willing to give them up after 6 years of work.
As we all know Abu dhabi has become a home for many different nationalities from all around the world and having lived here, expats might feel unwanted with the fact that the idea of Emiratisation is wanted but looking at in from a bigger perspective, locals have the right to have good jobs in their own country as any other citizen in his country and I don’t think this issue has impacted the UAE as much as it is today which is why I think the UAE should follow KSA.
Looking at how Saudi’s have benefited from Saudiasation is a good sign because its much more bigger than the UAE and has defiantly a bigger population. Which is another reason to prove to locals and companies that everyone will benefit from this idea.