United Arab Emirates, 29 January 2024: Emirates Global Aluminium, the largest industrial company in the United Arab Emirates outside oil and gas, today announced that 20 per cent of its UAE National trainees in operations are women in the first full year after the company opened its long-standing technical training programmes to females.  

EGA’s National Training Programmes develop high school leavers for technical roles. More than 5,000 men have graduated from these programmes since they were first established in 1982. The first women joined the programmes in November 2022.

EGA hired a total of 75 National trainees for its technical programmes during 2023.

EGA’s National Training Programmes last between six months and three years, and provide theoretical and on-the-job training to work in EGA’s smelters, power plants, desalination plants or maintenance.

Abdulnasser Bin Kalban, Chief Executive Officer of Emirates Global Aluminium, said: “As a UAE industrial champion, we recognise our role in developing strong local talent, with particular focus on women, to achieve our bold aspiration to be the industrial employer of choice by 2030. We will continue to prioritise both Emiratisation and gender diversity as we secure the people we need to grow our business and contribute to our nation’s sustainable economic development for decades to come.”

EGA hired around 120 UAE Nationals in 2023 in total, including 37 women. Over 95 per cent of EGA’s 2023 UAE National recruits were under the age of 35. While EGA recruits mid-career experts, the company focuses on attracting and developing young people who are starting their careers as talent for the future.

At the end of 2023, EGA’s in-focus Emiratisation rate was 42.6 per cent. On a like-for-like basis, EGA has one of the highest Emiratisation rates of any major company considering the high number of industrial positions.

EGA now aims to accelerate in-focus Emiratisation, targeting that the number of UAE Nationals rises as a proportion of the in-focus workforce by two per cent every year to reach 48 per cent by 2026. This means EGA expects to hire up to 500 UAE Nationals over the next three years, including replacements for staff turnover and company growth.

EGA also recruited 30 graduate trainees in 2023, including a majority of 17 women amongst the cohort. Graduate trainees complete 18 or 24 months of training for supervisory positions in corporate functions or in industrial operations.

Over 1,200 UAE Nationals work at EGA and over 700 of EGA’s Emirati employees are under the age of 35 years old.

EGA cooperates with the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation, Department of Government Enablement and Dubai Government Human Resources Department in the recruitment of young UAE Nationals for some of the company’s National Training programmes.

EGA employs over 470 women in the UAE in total, including more than 160 in operations. EGA aims to increase the proportion of supervisory positions in the UAE held by women to 25 per cent by 2025 and is targeting 15 per cent of all roles at EGA being held by women by 2026.