Dubai tops in Emirati private jobs

Dubai emerged as being ahead of the other UAE emirates in employing Emiratis in its private sector, accounting for nearly half the total national workforce in that sector.

But official statistics showed the overall number of Emirati workers in the UAE private sector, the second largest in the Gulf, has remained a fraction of the total workforce despite a long-standing government drive to lure natives into the private sector.

The figures by the national bureau of statistics showed 19,874 Emiratis worked in the private sector at the start of 2012, only around 0.5 per cent of the sector’s total workforce of nearly 3.89 million.

Dubai’s private sector had around 9,857 Emiratis while there were about 6,898 in Abu Dhabi, 1,691 in Sharjah, 688 in Ras Al Khaimah, 365 in Ajman and 73 in Umm Al Quwain. Dubai also had the largest expatriate workforce in its private sector, standing at around 1.669 million, following by Abu Dhabi with 1.322 million.

A gender breakdown showed Emirati females surpassed males in the UAE private sector, with the number of women standing at 10,423 at the start of 2012.

As a whole, the total number of private sector workers in Dubai stood at 1.679 million at the start of 2012 while there were 1.328 million in Abu Dhabi, 507,500 in Sharjah, around 171,400 in Ajman, 105,100 in Ras Al Khaimah, 73,000 in Fujeirah and nearly 29,200 in UAQ, according to the report.

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