The UAE has urged firms to ensure that firms practice national diversity when hiring.
This came after some firms claimed that the government had stopped giving visas to South Asian nationalities, however, industry experts have dismissed the claims that the UAE has temporarily halted issuing visas for Indians, and Pakistanis
Visa experts and agents, also refuted viral claims that the UAE has stopped issuing visas to Indians, Pakistanis and Bangladeshis in the country. When a business service centre in Dubai reached out to the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation (MoHRE), it was told that establishments must diversify nationalities when hiring. They must ensure that the “first 20 per cent of available quotas in the establishments are allocated to different nationalities. It is important to note that this procedure is linked to the demographic diversity of the establishments and is not associated with a specific nationality”.
Companies were told to try hiring an employee of another nationality if they receive the message to achieve diversity.
Dismissing claims on social media that the authorities have stopped issuing visas to Indians, Firosekhan, managing director of Dubai-based Profound Business Service, explained: “I got visa for an Indian applicant at a company that has a diverse workforce. However, when I tried to get one for an applicant at an establishment with an overwhelming majority of Indian employees, I got the ‘achieve diversity’ message.”
An executive of another business centre said the UAE wants to bring in diversity to the workplace. “Many companies in the UAE have a majority of Indians, Pakistanis and Bangladeshis as employees. So if a company already has a large number of employees from these three nationalities, they are not able to apply for new visas for people from the same countries,” said Abdul Gafoor, general manager of Al Mas Businessmen Service. In 2022, the MoHRE had announced a three-tier classification system. Achieving diversity while hiring was one of the criteria for companies to get a higher classification which offers them discounts on work permits and transfer fees.
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