Xenophobia In The Workplace
It’s not nationalization policies that lead to racism or xenophobia, it’s attitudes and behaviors. It’s the fact that there are some out there who truly believe that they are entitled to have a say in other people’s livelihood.
I don’t think that anyone living in the UAE will be weirded out by me saying that where you are from matters here. While in other places, ethnic and racial divisions are more obvious, in the UAE (and the Gulf by extension), it’s mainly Nationality that matters. And certain Nationalities are definitely seen as more valid than others, especially in the Workplace. Of course, it’s not to say that race doesn’t play a role here. It does, but less so than Nationalities. Large corporations and government institutions are run by White people, either in C-suite titles or as consultants.
I myself have witnessed racially charged tensions caused by racist managers, and having people being dismissed from their jobs solely based on their nationalities–despite their positive performances. Other non-Emirati employees would start to worry that their turns might come at any time. One of these days, they might get the call that tells them that their days are final and that they could not stay any more. These kinds of racially motivated actions end up resulting in high stress environments that discourage people from saying how they feel and reaching out, and it ends up leaving them feeling secluded. There really are some managers out there who have this fantasy about what their perfect team looks like, for some it’s based on performance, culture, and diversity, while for others it’s solely based on race or nationality. It becomes clearly obvious when dynamics start to change due to divisive decisions.
Emiratization has been an ongoing initiative by the UAE’s government to ensure that the public and private sectors have a good number of Emirati employees. Recently, with the increase in the number of graduates who end up unemployed, the UAE has been finding itself in an awkward situation where many of the Emirati graduates end up unemployed, and it has become apparent that there is a preference of non-Emirati to Emirati, either due to the negative reputation of Emiratis in the workplace, or due to the belief that it costs more to hire Emirati’s. This, I believe, has led to a lot of xenophobia and racism in the workplace. And while I do see the point of those who worry about their fellow Emirati’s not being able to find jobs while those of other nationalities are being hired, I do not think it’s reasonable to be racist to people who are only trying to make a living, and were no part of the hiring process and did not willingly attempt to sabotage the efforts of an Emirati being hired.
On the contrary, these might be people who are trying to help improve the Emiratization of the workplace and have assimilated to the culture. However, there are some for whom assimilation and unity is not enough, for whom diversity is avoidable at all costs, and they would rather have a divisive environment which they can control. They would love nothing more than to pit locals against non-locals, and make it seem like it’s a legitimate fight.
