Salary Support scheme expanded In effort to Implement Emiratisation

In another step towards greater Emiratization the UAE has decided to provide further salary support to Emiratis working in the country’s private sector. The move covers all employees who joined the country’s private and banking sectors, including those who were appointed prior to the initiation of the Nafis program. The scheme is projected to help over 170,000 beneficiaries over the next five years and comes alongside a wide range of other benefits for Emiratis including a Pension Programme, Child Allowance Scheme, unemployment benefits and a variety of other measures aimed at increasing Emirati presence in the country’s private sector workforce.

The announcement was made on the 23rd of November 2022 by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Presidential Court. Dr. Abdul Rahman bin Abdul Manan Al Awar, Minister of Human Resources and Emiratization commented on the program saying that greater Emiratization will greatly benefit the national economy and give the private sector greater flexibility. Nafis has stated that 14,000 Emirati employees have joined private sector workforces since it was launched on the 13th of September, 2021 as part of the ‘Projects of the 50’, and the rollout of the expansion comes in order to maintain this momentum and reach the program’s target of adding 75,000 Emiratis to the private sector by 2025

The reach of the program has been broadened to include the previously excluded nursing sector in order to better integrate the country’s health sector at all levels. Beneficiaries will be eligible to receive varying degrees of support depending on their educational background, with high school graduates receiving a maximum monthly top up payment of 5,000 AED, diploma holders receiving 6,000 AED, and Emiratis who have graduated from a recognized university will receive 7,000 AED, up from a previous maximum of 5,000 AED. Only Emiratis with a monthly salary less than 30,000 AED, or about 8,000 USD, can avail the benefits of this support.