Emiratisation Deadline: Are UAE Firms Ready?

**Tim Elliott** (0:00)
This is Mira Business FM, it's the Morning Drive with the UE's 30th of June Emiratization deadline fast approaching, just over a week away. Businesses are now racing to meet targets, and also to attract local talent. So joining us now, Zakaria Doleh is the founder of Dal Lati, which is an AI-powered Emirati hiring platform. And what it does is it does the obvious, it connects employers with local talent and vice versa. So I want to talk about the state of emiratization, the opportunities for Emirati professionals, and also the things that businesses need to know before the deadline. Zakaria, good to have you here.

**Zakaria Doleh** (0:39)
Thank you so much for having me. It's a pretty decent honor.

**Tim Elliott** (0:41)
You're very welcome. You see the data firsthand through your platform, right? So beyond this deadline which is looming, literally next week, how has the perception of emeritization changed among smaller businesses, but also the larger corporations this year?

**Zakaria Doleh** (1:03)
Sure, absolutely.
So to address your point of the perception, I think if we first look at the larger employees, typically the ones with access to much bigger emeritization budgets and hiring budgets, they are the employees that can really access the diamond talent.
And I think that a lot of these smaller companies as well, they just need the right tools to also be able to access truly exceptional emeriti talent. And that's what Dolety is really all about. It's about providing companies, employers, with ambitious emeriti talent that can really take them to that next level.

**Tim Elliott** (1:37)
Okay. So what are you hearing from employers? I mean, the deadline is next week. What are employers saying to you now?

**Zakaria Doleh** (1:45)
I think there's kind of two camps of employers, really. We have the ones that have been planning all year, you know, workforce planning, things like this, and they're getting ahead on their emiratization goals. And then there's the other camp, which is more of a bit of a scramble, right?

**Tim Elliott** (2:00)
As good as this.

**Zakaria Doleh** (2:01)
Help! Yeah. The deadline comes and they're, you know, picking up the phone, calling any emirati they can, extending offers, you know, they're all over the place, scrambling to hire those UA nationals in order to be compliant. And those are the ones that really kind of struggle now.

**Tim Elliott** (2:17)
Yeah, they're the ones that need help. I mean, we hear a lot about the talent gap, right? That's a phrase. Is the challenge finding the right skills, or is it a mismatch in expectations between what local talent is looking for and what the businesses are actually offering?

**Zakaria Doleh** (2:37)
I think there's a few actually misconceptions within Emiratization. There's three myths. I think one of those myths is that people think that Emirati talent is too expensive to hire. I also think that another one of them is they won't stay, and there's like an unwillingness that they don't really want to work. And then thirdly, there's not enough of them. I actually disagree with all of them. I think firstly, to address the too expensive point, there is now a set baseline minimum salary for UA nationals, which is about 6,000 dirhams, which I think isn't far off most expat talent after visas and everything like this. Then in terms of the won't stay factor, right? If we look at why retention and turnover might be so high, I think it's because we get into a position where employees, they have this looming deadline, and then they must panic higher. So they rush higher to hire any UA national that they possibly can. And nine times out of 10, when they do hire that UA national talent, they're not truly a good fit for the role, right? They're just hiring from a compliance perspective, a compliance standard, rather than someone that's truly able to grow into that role. Because ultimately, that is what UA nationals are looking for. They're looking to contribute, show their skills within the private sector. I think I'm a living example of that. I think PWC came out with a study, and I think that they said it was about 61% of young UA nationals are actually willing and wanting to work in the private sector. As I said, I think I'm a living example.
Really, the chance for career growth and trajectory for UA nationals in the private sector is massive.
And I think that, you know, unfortunately, a lot of UA nationals get completed, treated more from a compliance perspective than a growth perspective. And I think that...

**Tim Elliott** (4:29)
It's just a chicken in the box, isn't it?

**Zakaria Doleh** (4:31)