Industrial companies are continuing to hire Emiratis beyond mandatory nationalisation requirements, with employers at a major Abu Dhabi careers fair citing strong demand for talent in artificial intelligence, engineering and advanced technology roles.
The push comes as private-sector companies with 50 or more employees work towards meeting Emiratisation requirements, which require skilled positions to be increasingly filled by UAE nationals.
Several employers participating in the Industrialists Career Exhibition said they had already exceeded their targets and were continuing recruitment drives. Energy technology company SLB said it had surpassed the 10 per cent Emiratisation threshold even before it became mandatory.
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“We were above the 10 per cent nationalisation target before the target was officialised,” said Dany Rahal, managing director of SLB UAE. “We continue to recruit because we have a strong belief in the long-term sustainability and resilience of the business.”
The company plans to recruit more than 90 Emiratis this year and hopes to fill around 50 positions through the exhibition alone. Available roles include artificial intelligence, remote operations, digital technology, health and safety, and energy-sector operations.
Rahal said AI and digital technologies were among the most attractive fields for young Emiratis entering the workforce. “I think the sector of technology is very compelling for Emiratis and within the technology sector we see AI and digital as great domains to attract talent,” he said.
Construction and engineering company CC7 is also looking to expand its Emirati workforce, with around 20 vacancies available in Abu Dhabi across civil engineering, electrical engineering, logistics, supply chain and health and safety functions.
Recruiters said industry experience remains highly valued, although graduate training programmes continue to provide entry points for fresh graduates.
At the same time, employers reported changing attitudes among Emirati job seekers.
Ibtisam Al Saadi, acting assistant undersecretary for the industrial development sector at the Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology, said more young nationals are now actively seeking careers in the private sector.
“Today you are finding people who are actually pushing to look for opportunities in the private sector because they understand that the opportunity to learn more is there,” she said.
The industry’s appeal is also drawing young Emiratis who might not have previously considered careers in manufacturing and engineering. Hamda Al Mahri, a technical sales engineer at Tenaris, said industrial careers offer far broader opportunities than many students realise. “It’s not what they imagine and it’s not what they see in textbooks and pictures; it’s much wider than that. It’s a whole world where people can find themselves.”
Al Mahri, who studied industrial and systems engineering, said she initially considered pursuing computer science because of her interest in coding before discovering the broader possibilities offered by engineering.
After graduating, she completed an internship at the Technology Innovation Institute, where she worked on systems-development projects involving researchers, laboratories and project teams. She later joined Tenaris, a global steel pipe manufacturer, after being approached by the company because of her engineering background.
Her role has since taken her beyond the UAE. Al Mahri became the first Emirati employee sent by the company to Argentina for a specialist training programme, spending a month at the firm’s engineering and technology facilities. “I learned a lot there,” she said. “They have top-tier engineers and scientists who have dedicated their lives to developing the technology.”
Al Mahri said experiences like these demonstrate how industrial careers can expose Emiratis to international opportunities, advanced technologies and specialised expertise. “People think of factories when they hear the word industry,” she said. “But every factory has engineering teams, technology teams, business functions and many different opportunities.”
“As long as there is a system, I can be there and I can work there,” she added. Accounting firms are seeing similar trends.
Zayed Al Ali, founder of Zayed Chartered Accountants, said adaptability and AI literacy have become increasingly important attributes for recruits entering the workforce.
“What they learn at university is different from reality,” he said, adding that employers are increasingly looking for candidates who can adapt to technological change and embrace automation.
The growing emphasis on AI skills was evident throughout the exhibition, where recruiters repeatedly highlighted demand for candidates with expertise in emerging technologies alongside traditional engineering disciplines.
Officials said industrial careers are evolving rapidly, creating opportunities that range from manufacturing and energy to genomics, food safety, digital operations and advanced research.
For employers, the challenge is no longer simply meeting Emiratisation quotas but securing enough qualified talent to support the UAE’s expanding industrial ambitions.
“We are willing to invest in Emirati talent,” Al Saadi said. “Companies are finding that talented Emiratis are very important and they are trying to retain them.”
