United Arab Emirates: Emirates Global Aluminium, the largest industrial company in the United Arab Emirates outside oil and gas, today announced the company is aiming to develop 120 young UAE Nationals as a part of the ‘Train for Work’ programme.

‘Train for Work’ is an Abu Dhabi Government initiative that creates training and development opportunities for young UAE nationals to enable them to find attractive opportunities in the national workforce.

At EGA, 65 young people have already been selected under the programme.

EGA finished 2018 with 38.5 per cent Emiratisation of in-focus positions, all those that can feasibly be Emiratised, its highest ever level. EGA is targeting 40 per cent Emiratisation of in-focus positions by 2020.

EGA will this week participate in ‘Tawdheef’, the annual Abu Dhabi career fair for UAE Nationals.

Abdulla Kalban, Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer of EGA, said: “‘Train for Work’ is a natural extension of our existing National Trainee Program, through which we prepare young UAE Nationals for technical roles in our industry, and we are pleased to support the Abu Dhabi Government’s objectives in this way. I welcome these ambitious young people to our business.”

EGA’s workforce includes almost 1,200 UAE Nationals, in line with the ‘UAE Vision 2021’ goal of harnessing the full potential of National human capital. More than 40 per cent of those holding the top 270 positions in the company are UAE nationals.

In November 2017, EGA launched ‘Engineer the Future’, a programme that aims to inspire young people to study and pursue careers in STEM. ‘Engineer the Future’ has so far reached more than 10,000 students.

The ‘Train for Work’ programme at EGA lasts two years. The participants will complete a three-month foundational English language programme before starting 21 months of EGA technical and on-the-job training.