Wage Determination in the UAE - Essay Example

If the job is of private sector, foreign applicants would be preferred (Abdalla et al., 2010, p. 165). The difference in the access to job opportunities for the national and foreign applicants can fundamentally be attributed to the high level of segregation in the labor market. The public and private sectors in the UAE are completely independent with their own characteristics, criteria, and culture. The public sector is almost entirely meant for the national applicants whereas the private sector almost entirely accommodates the foreign workers.

This is because of the fact that companies in the public sector are government-owned and thus can accommodate the high expectations of the national workers with respect to wage and benefits. Foreign workers in the public sector are vulnerable to discrimination and stereotyping because of their rarity amidst the abundance of national workers of the UAE. On the other hand, companies operating in the private sector place emphasis on maximizing their profits. So hiring national workers of the UAE does not prove a cost effective option.

Besides, the national workers of the UAE are also less equipped with the talents and competences required by the companies operating in the private sector. . While mentioning experience, it is important to note that companies both in the public and the private sector mostly value experience that is gained within the UAE rather than elsewhere. So a worker with ten years of experience in India or Pakistan might be considered equivalent to a college freshman in the UAE. Conditions of job in the private sector in the UAE are tougher as compared to those in the public sector.

An example of this is more number of working hours in the private sector than those in the public sector (Abdalla et al., 2010, p. 171). Therefore, as an individual gets more experienced within the UAE, he/she prefers to work in the public sector rather than the private sector, though the basic factors of nationality and gender are still considered. The segregation of labor market in the UAE can be attributed to the fact that the UAE wants to protect the rights of its national workers and considers their employment more important than those of the foreign workers.

Educational level of a worker plays a significant role in his/her productivity. The more educated the worker, the more productive he/she is because of the added knowledge he/she has as compared to a less educated worker. Citizenship of the employee generally does not have any impact on the employee’s productivity because irrespective of citizenship, all employees have to work in the culture of the UAE industry following the norms and rules of the UAE. Working hours per week do have a connection with productivity.

There is an optimal number of working hours that promise maximal productivity. Working hours above or below them reduce the productivity.