Women’s Life in Dubai as an Expat
Foreign Working Women in UAE
In my previous post, I focused on local women in UAE, here I will talk all about foreign women residing and working in the UAE.
Although I cannot find solid statistics about the percent of each country’s contribution to the female population in UAE, from my observation, most women workers that come alone and work as employees (not self-employed), in the UAE are Filipina OFWs (Overseas Filipino Workers).
There are of course women living in the UAE from Arab countries, India, and Russia, Morocco, Chinese, and almost all other country in the world. Filipinas, I think, has the biggest single women population working in the UAE.
From my observation, most Arabs, and Indians women, usually travel with their families, accompanying their husbands or fathers who are working in UAE already. They do not travel alone to UAE to work (of course there are exceptions).
Most of the women accompanying their families work under their spouse’s or family’s visa and do not want to change to an employment visa, if their spouse has a stable job (there are exceptions where the man follows the spouse to work in UAE).
Staying in their spouse visa gives them more freedom and less control from the employers. Some employers prefer that arrangement as well, because it is faster and cheaper to get a labor card for the employee, then a complete residency Visa with all the fees, deposits, and mobilization and demobilization expenses.
I noticed; most non-Filipino women work in companies owned by the same nationality. For example, Chinese women, work for Chinese Spa, or Chinese restaurants, or Chinese companies do business in the UAE.
Thai women work in Thai Spa, or Thai restaurants or Thai owned businesses (which are not many), the same goes for most nationalities.
I knew a couple of Russian girls, one used to work for a Russian boss selling high end clothing and fur coats to Russian tourists, and the other works as a lawyer for a Russian law firm doing business with Russian clients in UAE.
Most Indian women work for Indian bosses. Maybe it is the language and cultural convenience.
There are also many freelancers that come to Dubai as tourists or obtain a residency visa through a small day job and make their money by freelancing as a sales and marketing, artist, personal coach, personal assistant or escort.
Arab Female Workers in the UAE
Arab nationals, on the other hand, and because they are Arabic speakers, are paid higher and usually desired to work in law firms, HR firms, and firms that the Arabic language is required.
In my company, I had few Arab nationals, I hired them mostly because their husbands were friends and they were mostly either Engineers or Interior Designers and they are almost always more expensive and still they can’t match Filipina workers when it comes to production (at least that was my experience).
The only thing Arab women performed better than Filipina female workers is the fact that they are more aggressive, and they can negotiate with vendors, and clients, and employees more aggressively, and these skills, give them an edge over others in certain positions.
Of course, this is a general statement, there are many exceptions. My Filipina office manager was so soft looking, but at the same time so firm, that I noticed that all employees and vendors were afraid of her more than anyone else in the company.
Importance of female Workers
You can see female workers in all aspects of life in the UAE, except construction works, which are usually very tough, and male-dominated almost 100%.
Of course, there are female surveyors, engineers, inspectors ..etc. but I have never seen a female construction worker as you see in the US or other European and even Southeast Asian countries (maybe it is due to the heat in UAE).
Other than construction, women are almost in every other industry, from restaurants to banks, offices, sales, taxi drivers ..etc.
Most nurses are Filipina, most dental hygienists are Filipinas, and most of them with a dentistry degree but cannot work as dentists due to licensing requirements, which usually cost a lot of money and must be paid by the individual.
Hence, many become a dental hygienist or dentist assistants. Of course, there are Filipina doctors and dentists, but that is rare.
I know a couple of Filipina dentists that work as a hygienist in the morning, and at night they do some dental work for friends and special referrals in a room in a house without licenses (this is called “Part timing” not “moonlighting” by the Filipino community).
These types of practice are common in other professions and other nationalities as well, it helps members of their community that they cannot afford a full-price and help these individuals as extra income.
Salaries for skilled workers with no licenses, is typically low, compared to the high standard of living in UAE in general and Dubai and Abu Dhabi in particular, so a little bit of moonlighting helps cover a lot of expenses.
Some I know clean houses on weekends or babysit. I had one of the office workers in the office, who used to take care of my two cats while we traveled. That extra money helps them and at the same time was a great help to me.
Effect of Having More Male Than Female Immigrant Workers
Like any other country, there is prostitution in the UAE. However, because it is a rich country, and with 72% male vs only 28% female (most immigrant workers are male especially the ones from India, Pakistan, and Egypt), it is a bit more complicated and more in demand in UAE.
In 2008, I remember the Government did a big crackdown on prostitution circles and many were deported and had been banned from entering the country for life (these bans go into the system as biometrics, it is “almost” impossible to get in even if you change your nationality and passport).
After 2009, the laws changed to limit the visit visa to 90 days only (nonrenewable), and a new visa can be issued only after 90 days has passed for the person outside the UAE to help reduce freelancing or organized prostitution business.
In the building I was renting in, there were many three-bedroom apartments occupied by 3 to 6 girls all from the same nationalities (all Russians, Moroccans or Uzbeks ..etc, living together.
I never saw them out of the house in the mornings, I only use to see them all leaving at 10 to 11 Pm and usually see some of them coming back early morning when I am heading to work.
In the area I used to live, you would not see Southeast Asian nationals living there, they usually live in a different area and with different living arrangements.
They usually live in large groups and in sleeping spaces that can be used as massage centers and sleeping areas. They sleep in turns to be able to accommodate more people in smaller spaces.
Domestic Helpers and Caregivers in the UAE
The cheap labor and high pay of most locals and many expats business owners or executives do make UAE local nationals and high paid expats residents depend on domestic helpers.
Most high-income households have one full-time helper, many locals with bigger houses have two and more. Most domestic helpers are women, and most of them come from Bangladesh, India, or the Philippines.
Of course, there are other nationalities, but the majority I have seen are from these three countries and the Philippines being the most desirable because most of them speak English very well.
Most of these helpers work part-time as a cook and a nanny as well. Most of them stay in the same family for years, and the kids start getting attached to them and learn Tagalog or Hindu from them and they become like a second mom.
There are, however, some abuse cases that get reported or go unreported. One popular type of abuse comes in the form of the teenage sons or the husband harasses or abuses the worker by threat, force or offers her money.
Another type of abuse can be due to the lady of the house being a jealous type, have anger problems, or abusive and controlling in nature and act very mean to workers.
She abuses them by hitting them, or keeping them without food or internet (no communication with friends and families). Some do use police to intimidate and scare their helpers by accusing them of theft.
But these cases are exceedingly rare and usually, police do investigate and sometimes help these women to go safely back home.
In most Arab countries, most families do not put their elderlies in elderly care centers, these types of centers are exceedingly rare. The kids usually keep their parents at home and hire a caregiver to take care of them.
This is big business in the UAE and many unregistered nurses that cannot afford to get licensed, get jobs as caregivers. Most of these women get paid a little more than a domestic helper and usually have one day off per week or every two weeks and get treated better than a domestic helper.
conclusion
Women in the UAE have a significant role in the development of the country. Many industries depend almost completely on foreign women workers.
The government tries its best to ensure a safe work environment, but sometimes abuse happens. In general, I saw a huge reduction in workplace abuse in the last 15 years and that is all due to the labor law and regulations that give workers more freedom and rights.
Need more information about this story? Simply fill out this form to contact me.