More than 250,000 companies are operating in the UAE which means they could need 250,000 UAE nationals to work as Public Relations Officers, a Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs official said yesterday.
There are 26,000 unemployed nationals, according to Dr Ali Bin Abdullah Al Ka'abi, Minister of Labour and Social Affairs. The official added that according to Tanmia statistics, a third of them are women.
The official said if after two months all companies with more than 100 workers had to hire nationals the question was where would they would find nationals to work in the majority of the companies.
Expatriates have also expressed concern over the decision.
An Egyptian who works as a PRO for a company in Dubai said he would leave the UAE if the law was implemented.
A businessman said the decision would not work and there would be enough vacancies for both expatriates and nationals in PRO jobs.
"It is unfair and the ministry should have studied the decision before taking it," he said.
Many companies have already started advertising in local newspapers for national PROs with driving licences.
According to the decision announced in August by the Minister of Labour, companies with more than 100 workers must employ a national to work as a PRO by the end of the year, or outsource their PRO needs to the new semi-government service centres to be established by December.
Al Ka'abi said expatriate PROs could not represent companies at the labour ministry from next year, or at the joint office for important projects set up between the ministry and the Residency and Naturalisation Departments.
They can continue to work in their PRO roles until the newly employed nationals are fully trained.
