What is your Emiratisation gap costing you?

Mainland UAE companies with 50 or more employees must have 10% of their skilled workforce be Emirati by December 31, 2026, with an 8% mid-year milestone that fell due on June 30, 2026. Companies with 20–49 employees in the 14 targeted sectors must have hired at least two Emiratis. Free-zone entities are currently outside the mandate.

For companies with 50+ employees, the contribution is AED 9,000 per month for every unfilled Emiratisation slot — AED 108,000 per slot per year — and collection for missed milestones began in July 2026. Smaller companies (20–49 employees) in targeted sectors face a one-off AED 108,000 charge per missing hire. Separate penalties of AED 20,000–100,000 per worker apply to sham ("fake") Emiratisation.

Broadly: employees in skilled professional categories earning at least AED 4,000 per month with an attested qualification, per MoHRE classification. The quota is calculated against your skilled workforce, not total headcount — which is why an accurate skilled-worker count matters when estimating exposure.

Orbis screens 100% of applicants, runs real AI voice interviews in English or Arabic, and returns an evidence-backed shortlist — recording, transcript, integrity report and a three-model jury score per candidate — so you can fill quota roles with defensible hires instead of paperwork hires. One filled slot avoids AED 108,000 a year in contributions.