UAE: Slow pace of emiratisation by insurers under scrutiny
Source: Middle East Insurance Review | Mar 2019
A member of the Federal National Council has questioned the weak Emirati representation in employment in the UAE insurance industry.
Mr Ahmad Yousuf Al Nuaimi, a member from Ras Al Khaimah, demanded that more efforts be made to train and employ Emiratis in the strategic sector, according to a report by Gulf News.
“Only 1,310 citizens are employed in the industry, representing 68% at the supervisory level, 28% in middle management and 4% at high management level,” he said.
In January last year, the UAE government launched a points system to manage emiratisation in the insurance industry. The scheme assigns point targets to institutions based on their revenues. Insurers with bigger GWP have higher emiratisation targets to meet. They also gain points for investing in the training of UAE nationals and developing their skill sets. This is to help locals move up the career ladder to senior management roles in the insurance sector.
The system grants more weight to more important positions in an insurance company. For example, an insurer scores five points if it creates a managerial position for a UAE national, whereas a non-managerial post fetches one point. In addition, if an insurer fails to achieve a stipulated emiratisation target, a financial penalty will be levied.
The level of emiratisation in the UAE insurance sector is currently still below the target rate of 13%, despite the efforts of the Insurance Authority to increase job opportunities in the industry for UAE nationals. M