UAE to scan expat workers' skills

To restrict the huge inflow of unskilled foreign workers, the UAE will soon start a closer examination of the skill levels of labourers seeking to enter the country.

"There will be a closer examination of their skills to qualify for a job in the UAE," Labour Minister Dr Abdullah Al Ka'abi said. The ministry plans to put in place a mechanism to screen unskilled workers before they are absorbed into the job market, he said.

"The market now needs highly qualified workers," Ka'abi said, hinting at a change in the existing system in which university degree was not mandatory for those pursuing vocational professions.

"This will change in the coming period when there will be closer examination of their qualifications," the minister was quoted as saying by The Gulf News.