![]() "Banking has been more successful than most private sector industries, but there's still a lack of structured, employer-led training and development. "Quota systems never have worked and they will never work," says Charles Wilson, a nationalization expert and senior HR advisor to the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. What's more, 23% of Emiratis between 15-24 are unemployed, showing the lack of take-up for private sector jobs. The result is that a decent proportion drop out during, or immediately after, the training process, says the HR manager, hence banks' year-round graduate recruitment programmes.Īccording to UAE Ministry of Labor statistics, as many as 15% of Emiratis drop out of private sector jobs because of cultural differences and nationals make up just 20,000 of the 3.8m workers outside of the public sector. Very often, therefore, these management jobs are more figurehead than actual leader. It's made clear that they will be rapidly promoted, and a lack of real work experience doesn't give them enough time to really understand the sector. While undoubtedly a good proportion of Emiratis and Qatari's entering the banking sector are motivated to succeed, the training and development programmes can often be overwhelming - placing a large amount of pressure early on in their career - the HR director says. ![]() "There are a few problems - firstly, the high level of classroom learning required to bring them up to speed is off-putting (particularly after years in academia), secondly there are the cultural differences and finally there's the perception that they've been brought in to fulfil a quota, rather than on their own merit." "It is, quite simply, a revolving door," one HR manager working with a number of banks in Dubai tells us. The banking sector is more successful than most in hitting localisation targets - a number of local firms now employ over 40% nationals - but the problem is not convincing nationals to take the roles, it's convincing them to stay. The latter pay well, and - because of the tendency to allow employees to work from 9am-2.30pm - are generally considered something of a cushy job. In places like the UAE and Qatar, private sector companies have always faced stiff competition for local candidates from public sector careers. The problem, however, is convincing them to stick around after they've been recruited. Fuelled by onerous localisation targets and a shortage of candidates, demand for GCC nationals in the banking sector remains sky high, and salaries continue to increase exponentially.
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