The Abu Dhabi National oil company (ANOC) is seeking to boost the number of students at its specialised higher education institutions to boost recruitment in a competitive labour market.
“We have no problems convincing students to sign up,” said Fareed Alsayed Abdulla, senior vice president, Bab & gas of ADCO, and ADNOC subsidiary, on the fringes of the ADIPEC conference held in Abu Dhabi this week. “But once they are qualified, they are often quickly poached.”
ADNOC provide free qualifications for students enrolling in its Petroleum Institute, providing their grade average remains above a certain threshold. The company also runs the ADNOC Technical Institute and a high school. Graduating from those institutions are not required to work for the company, leading many to sign up for the regional competition.
To secure an adequate number of new recruits, ADNOC is now aiming to increase the number of students from currently 1,100 to 5,000 within the next five years, says Abdulla.
Within those numbers will be a rising proportion of non-UAE nationals, says the vice president. “Currently around 35 percent of students are expats. But this number will probably grow to 50 percent,” he said.
Another initiative to increase student numbers has been the opening of a women’s college.
