Early taste of working life has benefits

Liberalising laws about part-time work for teenagers will help augment their education

Teenagers in the UAE will get the chance to try working part time as part of a new jobs decree. Silvia Razgova / The National
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Working part time in one’s teens is a welcome part of growing up in many parts of the world – and for good reason, since it provides experience of the reality of working life, encourages responsibility and also generates spending money. But until recently, employment rules in this country meant it was unavailable as an option for most.

As we reported yesterday, the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation will now allow youths between the ages of 12 and 18 to apply for temporary work permits, giving them a taste of life beyond school. The new decree will augment one that has allowed some between the ages of 15 and 18 to work but will still require the teenagers to have the written permission of their parents to have a part-time or casual job.

The teenagers who take up this option will learn something that is self-evident to anyone who is already in the workforce: that having the technical skills to do their job is just one facet of being successful. The so-called “soft skills” of working well with others and navigating office politics are also important.

Another benefit of experiencing the reality of work while still at secondary school is to get a better idea of what life in a particular profession will actually entail. Those raised on television dramas such as the CSI: Crime Scene Investigation franchises, for example, might opt to study something else after a stint of work experience in a real life forensic laboratory shows that it is rather more mundane than the fictional version. The benefits of learning this lesson before choosing a degree are obvious.

There is also an argument to be made for liberalising working laws in general and not just for teenagers. Saudi Arabia is taking steps to encourage more women into the workforce as part of a move to increase the number of private-sector workers. The goals include providing jobs for the generation of young Saudis reaching working age and to lessen its reliance on expatriate workers.

At present more women than men in the UAE gain university degrees but many leave when they get married and particularly if they have children. Making our workplaces more friendly to those with families is an obvious way to reverse this trend and to ensure this country reaps the benefits of its strong support for education.