UAE Steers Hiring and Skills Policy Toward AI and Advanced Industries, Al Awar Says

Al Awar is Minister of Human Resources and Emiratisation and acting Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research. Speaking at the UAE Government Annual Meetings 2026, he also named healthcare and life sciences, aviation, and advanced energy and sustainability as priority sectors, according to the state news agency WAM.

He presented a model that simulates the labour market up to 2031, which he said would support forward planning and decisions based on data and AI. WAM's report did not say how the model works or who built it.

Al Awar also gave figures on the job market since the Nafis Emiratisation programme was launched in 2021. The number of citizens in the labour market has grown 404%, he said. Over the same period women's participation rose about 109%, the number of skilled workers 50%, the total workforce 104% and the number of companies 46%.

He said the Wage Protection System now carries about Dh37 billion in wages each month. Worker-protection insurance covers 99% of private-sector employees and unemployment insurance covers 93%, he added. He said the UAE ranks first in the Gulf for the value of outward remittances.

Al Awar named the ministry's next priorities as raising productivity, keeping Emiratisation and jobs sustainable, attracting and retaining international talent, and widening the role of citizens and women in the private sector. He said the country's attractiveness as a labour market depended on partnership with private employers, which he described as central to sustaining growth and creating jobs.