Food producer cancels Dubai hiring day as huge crowds of jobseekers turn up

Hayatna Fresh urges people to apply online as hundreds arrive for open day

Jobseekers wave their CVs outside the Vida Emirates Hills Hotel on Saturday Photo: Sai Sagar

A walk-in recruitment day for a company in Dubai was cancelled when hundreds of jobseekers arrived for interviews.

Food and milk producer Hayatna Fresh halted a two-day hiring event after several hours on Saturday when a large crowd descended on a ballroom it had hired at a hotel.

Job seekers were told to send their CVs to a direct company email, [e-mail].

Hayatna promoted the event on Saturday and Sunday on its Linkedin account. It asked potential recruits to bring CVs to the Vida Emirates Hills Hotel between 10am and 7pm.

“I was there but didn’t have an interview. It’s my hard luck,” said jobseeker Mohamed Mustafa, who was turned away when the event shut early at 1pm.

Videos on social media showed a large crowd at the entrance to the hotel.

The Al Ain-based company, which produces milk, fruit and fresh juices, said it was looking to fill roles including automation engineer, sales supervisor, control room operator, merchandisers, salesmen and shelf stackers.

On LinkedIn, it listed salaries at Dh3,500 to Dh20,000 a month, depending on the role and seniority.

It did not state how many vacancies it had.

“Thank you for your response. We are cancelling the interviews for today and tomorrow,” said the company on social media, adding a request to applicants to send their CVs by the email.

The company was contacted by The National for further comment.

In March, a recruitment day for Dubai taxi drivers was inundated with applicants as the city's transport authority looked to expand the publicly-owned taxi fleet.

Potential recruits, some of whom had been out of work since the coronavirus pandemic began, were attracted by monthly salaries of Dh2,000 ($544) plus free accommodation and a target-related bonus structure.

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