Common questions about Emiratisation, answered

The MoHRE targets described here apply to mainland private-sector companies registered with MoHRE. Free zones run their own frameworks and some have introduced voluntary or incentive-based programmes. We work with mainland companies only.

MoHRE classifies roles into five occupational levels. Broadly, skilled means professional, technical, supervisory and administrative roles held by someone with an attested qualification above secondary school and a monthly salary at or above the MoHRE threshold. Labour and unskilled roles do not count.

Only full-time employees on a MoHRE-registered contract, with wages paid through the Wage Protection System and pension contributions in place, are counted. Part-time and outsourced staff are not.

MoHRE calculates the shortfall against the target due on 30 June or 31 December and invoices a monthly fine per missing Emirati until the gap is closed. Persistent non-compliance can also move your establishment to a lower classification tier.

Targets are assessed per establishment card, so each licence with 50+ employees carries its own 2% step. Groups often meet the number at one entity and miss it at another; a group-level audit prevents that.

The founder. There are no account managers or junior researchers between you and the person who screens the candidates and calls the hire at day 90.

No. We work exclusively with UAE mainland companies hiring directly. This keeps our candidate relationships clean and our focus absolute.

A 30-minute call, or a job description and a salary band. We also ask who sits on the interview panel and how quickly you can give feedback — that is what decides the timeline.

No — interviews are yours. We schedule them, prepare the candidate, collect feedback within 24 hours and advise on the offer. We can sit in as an observer if you ask.

A single placement fee agreed up front and payable on the candidate’s start date. Advisory and outsourcing are scoped separately. No retainers or subscriptions for standard placements.

Most permanent hires go from brief to accepted offer in two to three weeks: shortlist in five working days, interviews the following week, offer and notice period after that. Executive searches take six to eight weeks; bulk campaigns about six.

On the candidate’s start date. No retainer, no fee for the shortlist.

Every placement carries a 90-day replacement guarantee. If the candidate leaves or is let go in that window, we run the replacement search at no extra fee.

Skilled roles as defined by MoHRE — typically professional, technical, supervisory and administrative positions. We map each vacancy to the classification before we start.

Three to five per role, each with screening notes, salary expectation, notice period and Nafis status. We would rather send three strong UAE Nationals than fifteen CVs.

Banking, government-linked companies, telecoms and professional services have the deepest pools of experienced UAE Nationals. Graduate supply is strong in business, IT, engineering and HR.

Pension contribution support, where the government covers the employer’s share for eligible Emirati employees for a period, and training subsidies for approved programmes. Tier 1 classification also lowers your work-permit and transaction fees.

As soon as the MoHRE contract is issued. Benefits are not backdated to the start date if registration is late, and a missing registration is a common finding in inspections.

Existing Emirati employees can be added once the establishment is registered, subject to eligibility. We review the whole Emirati headcount during the advisory engagement.

Paying does not settle the obligation; the shortfall is reassessed at the next checkpoint and the monthly amount rises each year. Persistent non-compliance also affects your classification tier and therefore your permit costs.

Registering a UAE National as an employee without genuine work — a salary paid for a name on the establishment card. It carries fines per case, downgrade to Tier 3, and the Emirati is removed from your count.

The calculator uses AED 8,000 per missing Emirati per month (AED 96,000 per year) as a baseline. The monthly amount has risen each year since the programme began, so treat the figure as a floor and confirm the current rate with MoHRE or with us.

MoHRE assesses Emiratisation per establishment card. A surplus on one licence does not offset a shortfall on another, so the report shows each card on its own and then the group total.

We call you within two working days to understand what you are looking for, then keep your profile active. When a matching role opens, we speak to you first and only introduce you to the employer with your agreement.

It helps. Employers can only claim Nafis support for registered candidates, so Nafis-registered UAE Nationals get priority. Our Nafis guide walks through the registration in five steps.

Skilled roles at mainland companies across all seven emirates, from graduate programmes to leadership positions. Most roles are in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah.

No. Your profile is confidential and we never share it with an employer before speaking to you. Executive searches are handled discreetly on both sides.