The Emirates Group and Employee Diversity
The Emirates Group is an international aviation holding company that is headquartered in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The Emirates Group is primarily made up of Dnata (one of the world’s largest suppliers of air services such as flight catering and aircraft ground handling, with a global footprint in 37 countries) and Emirates Airline (the largest airline in the Middle East).
Emirates flies to more than 125 destinations across six continents, operating a fleet of more than 180 wide-bodied aircraft. The airline also has 170 aircraft on order worth AED 213 billion (about $58 billion in U.S. dollars; the dirham, AED, currency used in the UAE has been pegged to the U.S. dollar at a rate of 3.6725 since 1997). Sales turnover for The Emirates Group is AED 67.4 billion ($18.4 billion in U.S. dollars) and the company employs more than 85,000 people who represent more than 160 countries.
The Emirates Group views its employee diversity of more than 160 nationalities as a unique strength given its prominent role as a truly global organization. Emirates’ opinion is that talent is not nationality exclusive, and diversity of nationalities, cultures, religious and ethnic backgrounds enriches the workforce. These come in the form of a constant flow of new ideas, innovations, and thinking styles that are then implemented and lead to business success. The company’s employee diversity also complements Emirates’ headquarter city of Dubai as a cosmopolitan multicultural population, where about 85 percent of the 3 million residents are expatriates.