Race & Ethnicity In the UAE
There are more than 200 nationalities living and working in the UAE. Interestingly, the expatriate community significantly outnumbers the locals. UAE nationals represent just 20 percent of the total population. In total, approximately 90 percent of the workforce is expatriate. There are many benefits to working in this multicultural haven. For instance, you will get to expand your network with people from all over the world. This will help you develop an ability to work with individuals from different backgrounds and cultures. As you might imagine, such a skill can be valuable on your resume. Here are other reasons you may want to live and work in the UAE.
Align With an Increasingly Global Workforce
A multicultural workplace is considered a job perk. It will help you become more aware of the fact that the world is much smaller than previously imagined. Our cultures affect the way we see the world. If you keep interacting with people who have the same background as yours, you’ll maintain your viewpoint for life. This is why you need to be in an environment where you experience a variety of viewpoints. You will also get exposed to the wide-ranging personal and professional experiences of international teams. This will make you see the workplace and the world differently. Diversity of viewpoints and thoughts can drive innovation and breed creativity. It will help you develop new approaches to problem-solving, which will enable you to accomplish your tasks in a newer and more exciting way.
Being surrounded by multiple personalities, perspectives, and voices is a great way to build out-of-the-box thinking. You will be able to exchange ideas, which benefits your company and yourself.
A Boost in Creativity
Have you ever wondered how you can boost your creativity? According to a Harvard Business Review article, teams that include individuals from diverse backgrounds and experiences tend to show a great deal of creativity and easily come up with more innovative ways of solving problems.
Having a network that includes individuals from different backgrounds creates an environment where you are continuously stimulated by different perspectives and ideas. This comes from how you must continuously find different ways of expressing yourself, mixing gestures and languages and learning words in other languages. It helps you come up with new ideas easily.
You Get to Be Part of Highly Productive Teams
Diverse workplaces give you an opportunity to learn different working methods and experiences. This will boost your problem-solving skills, which will increase your contribution to the team. Given that this experience is not limited to you only, you will enjoy being part of a more productive and generally happier environment. While working with people who share the same background and experiences as you seem easier, it usually causes businesses to settle for the status quo. On the other hand, diversity cultivates health competition. It stretches teams in positive ways and encourages everyone to achieve their best. This creates an atmosphere of healthy competition, where you achieve greater efficiency individually and as a team. It’s true that working as part of a diverse team has its challenges. However, according to a Harvard study, it’s these challenges that cause diverse teams to perform better.
Global Exposure
The UAE has a diverse array of employees. As you might imagine, working in such an environment will give you the best orientation in international business. It’s a global trade and financial hub that offers tons of opportunities to those looking to add the best experience to their resumes. The booming economic environment offers a hand in every sector. There is a constant influx of investors and other workers looking to make the most of the available benefits. Apart from the esteem you get from adding work in the UAE to your resume, there are tons of opportunities to sharpen your skills, gain new ones, and further your career.
Personal and Professional Growth
Being part of a multicultural team has its challenges. But as you know, challenges are necessary for personal and professional growth. You will be exposed to people who have different ways of seeing and doing things. The only way to gel in such an environment is to accept that there are different ways of doing things and that your way may not always be the best. This is an opportunity to learn many new life skills.
When you move to another country, you are generally separated from your close circle. You learn to depend on the new people you meet, and you also get to find out about different skill and knowledge gaps. For instance, you may even discover that you don’t know how to properly structure your budget or prepare meals. This forces you to learn skills out of necessity, which helps you to become more independent.
Whether you are coming from a big city or a small town, living and working in the UAE will give you a different perspective on life. You will see other cultures’ approaches to life, which will help you enrich and expand your worldview. This can be a bit difficult to do if you have never been away from your local community.