Outrage at the job advertisement: Emiratis are demanding more jobs in their own country – but taking sandwiches is probably beneath their dignity

A job advertisement is currently causing outrage in the United Arab Emirates.

Outrage at the job advertisement: Emiratis are demanding more jobs in their own country – but taking sandwiches is probably beneath their dignity

A job advertisement is currently causing outrage in the United Arab Emirates. The controversy was triggered by a "sandwich topper". In the advertisement, the Emirati group of companies Kamal Osman Jamjoom explicitly solicited local people interested in a job in the Subway fast food restaurant chain. In doing so, the company is supporting "the efforts of the state" to find jobs for locals, it said.

A new law requires most large private companies in the Emirates to outsource skilled jobs to locals from January 1 or face a fine otherwise. So far, around 90 percent of private-sector jobs are filled by foreigners — most locals work in the Gulf state's huge state sector.

However, many Emiratis apparently felt that the offer to fill sandwiches at Subway was beneath their dignity. "That's mockery," said one Twitter user about the job posting. "The lack of managerial, financial and technical jobs has led to the creation of 'sandwiches'... What times," read another user's comment, which was shared hundreds of times.

Other Twitter users stated that there is no shame in doing such work. After all, US multi-billionaire Jeff Bezos started his professional career in a McDonald's fast food restaurant.

The public prosecutor's office of the Emirates took the matter with less humor. She opened an investigation because the job advertisements for sandwich makers on the one hand ran counter to the "rules on emiratisation" and on the other hand violated media laws with their "controversial content". The Kamal Osman Jamjoom group withdrew the much-discussed job advertisement, apologized and spoke of a "translation error" that led to a misleading formulation.

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