(Voice of Paul) – Between 2022 and 2023, the United Arab Emirates government realized that out of 9 million workforce in its country, only some 1 million employees are citizens of the country. Seeing this data prompted the government to mandate companies with at least 50 roles to employ at least 1 Emirati citizen or agree to pay monthly fines to the Emirati government.
In most of Western countries, including Europe, North America, Australia, and New Zealand, companies would only be permitted to employ foreigners only if they found none of their citizens qualified or willing to do the job and that is why we have things called ‘black jobs’ that are reserved for African people because the citizens of those countries refused to do the jobs. And if at all a foreigner would be employed, the foreigner would be exceptionally talented for him or her to get the job.
Nigeria, known for its lawlessness and the porousity of its legal jurisdiction, the country has been bombarded by foreigners who come into the country in droves and take up most employment at will. India is a good example in this regard. Many manufacturing companies in Nigeria are led by the Indians. I am not against the Indians setting up their businesses in Nigeria but the notion that an Indian would perform better than a Nigerian when given the same resources and opportunity is a farce!
Placing the heavy levy on companies, both foreign and local who have a stronger appetite for hiring foreigners instead of Nigerians is a move in the right direction by the Nigerian government. If employees cannot execute their jobs, employers have a responsibility to help the employees overcome this barrier – capacity building instead of employee substitution is a better approach.