Sacked expats' post 'will not be filled up'

"The staff we already have are capable of handling the work created by the vacancies. We are not in the stage of recruiting other staff", an official source at the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs has told Khaleej Times.

In March, the ministry had terminated the services of 27 expatriate employees who were occupying senior and administrative positions in line with the emiratisation policy adopted by the UAE government to employ more national cadres.

The terminated staff have been provided with a grace period of four months to vacate their posts.

"The ministry has conducted training programmes for the existing staff to enable them to do the job of the sacked employees. The ministry employs more than 1200 employees so the terminated staff wouldn't represent any inconveniences concerning the performance of the ministry different departments", said the official.

He said that the ministerial decision for 2008 stipulating the halting of appointment of new cadres at ministries implies recruiting of cadres on exceptional basis.

"The civil service has assured us that in case of emergencies, we would be able to appoint new cadres. However, we still feel the ministry functions quiet well and there is no need for more staff", he said.