I’ve grown up in Dubai for most of my life. When a lot of people think of Dubai, the first things that come to mind are the world’s tallest building, expensive cars, and luxurious lifestyles. None of these would have been possible without the migrant blue-collar community, which makes up about 40% of the UAE’s population.
Ever since I was a child, I’ve loved interacting with people from diverse backgrounds, particularly the migrant workforce. I have met teachers from Nigeria who work as cleaners in malls, and software engineers from the Philippines who work as waiters to make ends meet. Listening to how and why they emigrated was heart-wrenching. A migrant worker told me that a recruitment agency back home promised her a dream job with a good salary, only to eventually find out reality was different.
In most countries, large networks of middlemen influence the hiring process and prey on the financial desperation of migrant workers. Employers and job seekers cross six layers of middlemen before hiring, causing serious gaps in transparency. Moreover, migrant workers can pay middlemen up to US$3,000 in advance for a job. They take out loans, mortgage assets, and even give up their passports in the hopes of earning a greater salary and providing a better life for their families. They are sold a dream which is far from reality.
To tackle this, in 2016, I founded ZoEasy, a recruitment platform that educates and matches blue-collar job seekers with the right employment opportunities using ethical and transparent hiring practices. Watching ZoEasy grow from inception is one of the best feelings in the world! In a short span, ZoEasy has generated a diverse database of 65,000 job seekers, offered 350 people job training, and linked over 150 blue-collar workers with employment at better salaries and working conditions. The employers we work with are also very happy as the transparency of our process has led to greater workforce motivation and productivity.
My major driving force is the social impact and awareness we are trying to bring to a community that usually goes overlooked. Through the work at ZoEasy, I dream of seeing greater diversity, economic empowerment, and more importantly, reduced inequalities in the migrant blue-collar community.