MAYS IBRAHIM (ABU DHABI)
With more than 175,000 Emiratis now working in the private sector, companies are increasingly turning their attention to what comes after recruitment, from developing national talent to creating pathways into management and leadership.
As the UAE marks Emirati Women’s Month, Aletihad spoke to Emirati women helping shape talent and Emiratisation strategies in the private sector.
They pointed to a growing focus on moving beyond meeting recruitment targets to giving Emirati employees the experience, training and progression opportunities needed to build long-term careers.
At ADSS, Senior Director of Human Resources and Administration Mariam Abdulrahman Al Marzouqi said the company is developing a plan focused on creating sustainable career pathways for UAE nationals.
“Today, Emirati professionals are looking for meaningful careers where they can learn, grow, take responsibility and contribute to their organisation and country,” she said.
Al Marzouqi, who has more than 20 years of experience in human resources and banking, said ADSS is working to understand the strengths, interests and career goals of each Emirati employee and establish individual career plans in coordination with line managers.
The approach will include practical experience, exposure to important projects, mentoring, professional training and access to senior leaders, with progress reviewed regularly to link development plans to career opportunities.
She said the company is also working to build a pipeline of Emirati candidates before vacancies arise, while making Emiratisation a responsibility shared across the organisation.
“Emiratisation should not be treated only as an HR target; it is a national and organisational responsibility,” Al Marzouqi said.
The challenge takes a different shape in hospitality, where careers are built around round-the-clock operations, guest-facing roles and experience across multiple functions.
Muneera Al Taher, Vice President of HR Operations and Emiratisation at Jumeirah, said the company focuses on exposing Emirati employees to the realities of hotel operations from the beginning of their careers, while giving them opportunities to move across departments, properties and countries.
“People here don’t progress in a straight line through one function the way they might in a corporate environment,” she said. That means career development in hospitality requires employees to gain a broad understanding of the business before progressing into more senior roles, Al Taher explained.
Jumeirah also aims to expose Emiratis to a wider range of functions rather than limiting them to areas where they have traditionally been represented, allowing employees to discover different career paths through hands-on experience.
For Al Taher, developing national talent also means balancing ambition with preparation. “Rushing someone into a senior role before they’ve had the right experiences doesn’t help them or the business,” she said.
Instead, the company focuses on steady progression through mentoring, cross-functional exposure and increasing responsibility, she added. “That’s how you build leaders who are genuinely ready when the opportunity arises,” she noted. “The proof of whether it works is always in the people.”
The expansion of Emirati employment in the private sector has been accompanied by a sharp rise in the number of companies hiring UAE nationals.
Government figures show that Emirati private-sector employment grew from about 29,000 four years ago to more than 175,000 by the end of 2025, while the number of establishments employing UAE nationals rose from 7,000 to more than 31,000 over the same period.