Majid Al Futtaim Boosts Employment Opportunities for Emiratis

Dubai - Majid Al Futtaim, the leading shopping mall, retail and leisure pioneer across the Middle East and North Africa, has confirmed plans to boost the number of UAE nationals employed across its companies and iconic brands. The company made the announcement at this year’s Careers UAE 2014 event, which was held at the Dubai World Trade Centre.
 
UAE nationals currently account for 15% of Majid Al Futtaim’s workforce and 65% of the group’s management in different roles across all business units and multiple departments, from asset management and malls to hospitality and customer service. Majid Al Futtaim’s commitment to providing opportunities for Emirati graduates and job seekers has been showcased through its participation in 12 successive Careers UAE events.

Across Majid Al Futtaim Retail, the Carrefour brand currently employs 150 UAE nationals and has set an ambitious target to increase this figure by 33% in 2014. At present, two Emirati’s are General Managers at Carrefour stores.

Ibrahim Al Hashimi, Associate Director of Employee Services, Majid Al Futtaim Properties commented on the company’s efforts to empower local talent, “Majid Al Futtaim has a long standing commitment to developing national talent and empowering local generations wherever we operate. Being one of the biggest UAE family businesses, we believe that having a strong national workforce is integral to our long-term success, and to strengthening the economy. Our endeavours are demonstrated by the fact that all our mall managers are UAE nationals. For Emirati’s, Majid Al Futtaim runs the ‘UAE Management Trainee Programme’, which offers new joiners a rich training and development opportunity”.

Majid Al Futtaim Properties business will employ fifteen fresh graduate Emirati’s for its Management Trainee Programme during 2014. With steady growth across the different ‎business units, Majid Al Futtaim Properties is keen to attract, develop and retain high calibre UAE nationals, ‎who can contribute to the company’s success whilst developing their professional skills ‎and leadership competencies, and consequently building a solid career‎.

Majid Al Futtaim Ventures, which includes brands such as Ski Dubai, Magic Planet and VOX Cinemas aims to increase the number of Emiratis in the workplace through its six month Khutwa course, which is a training and development programme for graduates that supports their professional career paths.

Moza Al Raqbani, Head of Nationalization Development – Majid Al Futtaim Retail- Carrefour said, “Our key focus lies within the development and enhancement of vital skills to prepare young local talent for senior positions in our stores. We constantly strive to achieve this by establishing tailored career paths and undertaking vocational training.”

The aim of these tailored training programmes is for UAE nationals to fully engage with different businesses and operations within the company and ultimately develop their specific skills and cultivate leadership competencies.