Employees claim abuse when they try to change their jobs

DUBAI // Expatriates are claiming that they are often forced by companies to give up their service benefits to get a no-objection certificate (NOC) when changing jobs.

In a series of interviews yesterday, several workers as well as salaried staff in senior positions expressed their frustration over the practice.

“There are too many complications to change jobs here,” said SN, a purchase executive at a construction firm in Dubai who asked that his full names not be used.

The Indian national gave up a good offer at another company because he was afraid of losing benefits for years of service.

“It is so difficult to get a good job break in the present situation,” he said. “I wanted to take the new job, but when I found out about all the formalities and troubles to get my benefits, I decided to stay back.

“I have a wife, children and several credit cards to pay up. I can’t risk this.”

He said his company demands at least two months salary from employees in return for a no objection certificate.

“This is common practice, especially in construction companies,” SN said. “Not just staff. Even poor workers have to pay up two months salary to get their passports and an NOC.”

The staff would then have to sign on a letter stating that all their pending salary has been cleared, after which they cannot demand anything.

The NOC from the employer is required to avoid a work ban when shifting jobs.

The Ministry of Labour said yesterday that any agreement in which a worker gives up service benefits or salary is not valid.

The ministry maintained that these were the rights of the employee and should be given by companies.

But labourers in the construction industry said they knew of several of their colleagues returning home empty handed.

“Since the recession began, many people went home without getting any money,” said a worker based in Sharjah. “We even have to pay for our own tickets.”

Workers wanting to return to their home countries have been asked to either pay for their own ticket or wait until the company can afford to pay for a ticket, they said.

“We have to wait for months just so that they can book a ticket. Finally, we book it ourselves and fly out,” he said.

Several workers said they were unaware of their rights.

“My passport is with the company,” said Ujwal Singh, another construction worker, when asked if he would consider changing his job.

“I have no option but to work for them. When I get tired I will go back to India.”

Despite the ministry’s urging that workers file complaints against employers who use these tactics, many are reluctant to enter a process that can leave them in an even worse position.

“Many people try to complain with the ministry but then the company just delays the whole procedure,” said an Egyptian project manager who is in the process of shifting jobs.

“My colleague demanded all pending dues, which is why the company did not give him the NOC for more than four months.”

The manager is now worried that the Dubai-based contracting company would do the same to him.


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Indian workers in Dubai face abuse when asking for NOCs

Dubai: Many workers as well as salaried staff in senior positions in Dubai are claiming abuse when they try to change their jobs, as they are often forced by companies to give up their service benefits to get a no-objection certificate (NOC) when doing so. The revelations came in a series of interviews to The National.

"There are too many complications to change jobs here," said SN, a Purchase Executive at a construction firm in Dubai who wished to remain anonymous. He gave up a good offer at another firm because he was afraid of losing benefits for years of service. "It is so difficult to get a good job break in the present situation. I wanted to take the new job, but when I found out about all the formalities and troubles to get my benefits, I decided to stay back. I have a wife, children and several credit cards to pay up. I can't risk this."

He also said that his company demands at least two months salary from employees in return for a no objection certificate, which he claims is common practice, especially in construction firms.

According to The National, the staff has to sign on a letter stating that all their pending salary has been cleared, after which they cannot demand anything. The NOC from the employer is required to avoid a work ban when shifting jobs. The Ministry of Labor has said that any agreement in which a worker gives up service benefits or salary is not valid.

The Ministry also maintained that these are employee rights and should be given by companies. But, laborers in the construction industry claim that they know several of their colleagues who have had to return home empty handed.

"Since the recession began, many people went home without getting any money," said a worker based in Sharjah. "We even have to pay for our own tickets." Additionally, workers wanting to return to their home countries have been asked to either pay for their own ticket or wait until the firm can afford to pay for a ticket.

Although the Ministry has urged workers to file complaints against employers who use these tactics, many are hesitant to enter a process that can leave them in an even worse position.


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Job losses in Gulf add up to one in 10

One in 10 workers in the Gulf have lost their jobs in the past year, with the UAE hit hardest in the region, a new survey says.

Sixteen per cent of workers in the Emirates were made redundant in the period, data released by gulftalent.com, an online recruitment firm, showed. The property sector was particularly affected.

“There is a bigger supply of candidates, both in the region and globally, and less demand for staff following the slowdown in the economy,” a company spokesman said. “Competition for talent has subsided, there are fewer vacancies and employers are no longer under pressure to pay more to attract and retain staff.”

The impact was most felt in Dubai because of its higher exposure to credit financing and global markets, the report said. The results are in stark contrast to the boom of the past few years, when companies in the Gulf had difficulty recruiting enough talent.

The UAE had the most layoffs over the 12-month period to August, while Oman showed the fewest with just 6 per cent of professionals being made redundant, the survey of 24,000 professionals across the GCC showed.

“The area you probably feel it most in is the real estate sector,” said Robert Ziegler, the vice president of the management consultancy AT Kearney. “Project managers would be job-hopping, happily, in past years with 100 per cent salary increases every time they hop. Those times are over.”

Property professionals were the most impacted, with 15 per cent losing their jobs. Audit professionals, however, benefited from the economic downturn, receiving the biggest average pay rise at 7.5 per cent as demand for their skills peaked.

Senior executives and western expatriates were also hard hit, with 13 per cent of both losing their jobs.

Of those still employed in the GCC, 60 per cent did not get a pay raise, a sharp contrast from the same time last year when just one-third did not receive a salary boost. Pay rises in the UAE shrank the most, falling to just 5.5 per cent compared with 13.6 per cent during the same period last year.

Professionals in Saudi Arabia were the least affected, receiving a 6.5 per cent average pay raise compared with 9.8 per cent last year. Employees across the GCC received average salary increases of 6.2 per cent compared with 11.4 per cent last year.

Still, it was the first time in the four years the survey has been conducted in which salary growth in most GCC countries outpaced inflation.

Another side effect of the recent rise in redundancies is the migration of professionals to more bustling hubs in the GCC, such as from Dubai to Abu Dhabi and Doha, the study showed.

“The cities that are still flush with capital and continue to grow and need workers, such as Doha and Abu Dhabi, are the next attractive steps for those who want to stay in the region,” said Mr Ziegler.

The number of people who live in Dubai and work in Abu Dhabi tripled to 3 per cent. However, Dubai remains the most popular destination because of its highly developed infrastructure and relative social openness, gulftalent.com said.

Mr Ziegler said that while the trend would likely continue for three to five years, the balance would tip as Abu Dhabi and Doha housing developments were completed.

Looking ahead, the outlook is mixed. The survey shows 20 per cent of companies plan further job cuts in the final quarter of this year while 51 per cent plan to expand their staff to make up for past layoffs. While recruitment is expected to pick up early next year, it is unlikely to reach the peak levels of last year for some time, the report said.


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The man in demand at Dubai Inc

A western businessman who has been working in the UAE for many years says this: “What we need are more like Sheikh Ahmed.

“He’s spent his business career listening to the advice of top-class international experts and advisers and taking that advice, so long it did not conflict with his own core instincts. Maybe if Dubai did that more … ”

He does not finish the sentence, but the implication is clear, especially in the current climate of economic uncertainty that hangs over the emirate.

If Dubai was more in touch with international business and financial opinion, as Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum undoubtedly is, perhaps it would be better placed to weather the financial storm that has blown up over the debt delay request by Dubai World.

The 50-year-old chairman of Emirates Airline certainly has plenty of international experience derived from the 24 years he has led the carrier to its position as the fourth-largest in the world by passenger kilometres flown.

But Sheikh Ahmed now finds himself increasingly involved in the internal business affairs of the emirate through his role as the chairman of the Supreme Fiscal Committee, as well as many other jobs at the top of Dubai’s key transport and trading infrastructure.

So far, by common agreement and on the evidence of public pronouncements, Sheikh Ahmed has had a good crisis. His power base, the Emirates Group, remains a rock of stability in the shifting Dubai business scene, though it faces challenges as a result of the global downturn in aviation.

While leading executives of Dubai Inc, who might have been regarded as rivals before the crisis, have seen their influence wane, his has grown.

It is a testament to his business acumen and his stature in the circle of advisers to Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, that his services are being called on with increasing regularity.

The relationship with the ruler is vital. Although Sheikh Ahmed is a few years younger than Sheikh Mohammed, he is actually his uncle. Despite that status, he was willing to learn from and offer support to his older nephew since the beginning of his career.

While his schooling was undertaken mainly in Dubai, with trips to Europe for English language experience, his first real exposure to life outside the UAE was as an undergraduate at the University of Denver, in Colorado, where he studied political science.

A close friend recalls how the young Sheikh Ahmed had an early lesson in financial reality when his application for an American Express credit card was declined on the grounds that his comparatively meagre student allowance did not qualify him for membership.

On graduation, it was natural for him to serve an apprenticeship in statecraft, administration and business as a shadow for the young Sheikh Mohammed when the future Ruler was himself learning the ropes. In 1985 he was appointed to the job that has defined his career and helped define modern Dubai.

Before then, the UAE had no airline of its own. Gulf Air, jointly owned by Abu Dhabi, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman, was supposed to service Dubai and the other emirates.

A dispute with Pakistan over landing rights offered Sheikh Mohammed, by then Dubai’s crown prince, his opportunity and one of the most enduring and mutually beneficial partnerships in world aviation began.

Maurice Flanagan, a former British Airways executive seconded to handle services at Dubai’s fledgling airport, was asked to be the chief executive to Sheikh Ahmed’s chairmanship of the new airline.

They were very different in background and temperament. Mr Flanagan, from Lancashire in the UK, was a former Royal Air Force officer, a serious footballer and a part-time playwright. Sheikh Ahmed respected the experience he had built up in the aviation industry and was determined to learn from the older man.

The two were joined by another Briton, Tim Clark, a former executive at the carrier British Caledonian, and Emirates was born on US$10 million (Dh36.7m) of seed capital. The name reflected the ambition to be the UAE flag carrier, an aim ultimately dashed in 2003 when Abu Dhabi launched Etihad.

It is almost impossible to downplay the role Emirates played in the explosive development of Dubai.

“Dubai’s economic strategy is about three things: people, goods and money,” says a management consultant working for the Dubai Government. “Emirates is the main agency for moving the first two and helps to make the third.”

From two leased aeroplanes, the Emirates fleet has grown to 141 aircraft serving 101 destinations. Under Sheikh Ahmed’s leadership, it has won numerous airline industry awards and has instituted a series of innovative passenger facilities.

It has ordered the largest number of the Airbus A380 superjumbo aircraft and is committed to expansion despite the global financial crisis. Indeed, it views the downturn as an opportunity to acquire new routes as others pare back their services.

The spin-offs from Emirates’s growth have shaped modern Dubai. Passengers need lodgings, shopping, transport, restaurants and leisure amenities. Emirates has been a key lobbying group to have such facilities built to international standards.

Sheikh Ahmed has played a personal role in one aspect of the leisure industry explosion in Dubai by opening two of the emirate’s leading hotels, the Grosvenor House and the Royal Meridien.

“He is very hands on and involved,” says a former western diplomat who claims him as a friend. “He does not just sit in an office … he goes to work and knows the business and knows his people.”

The chief executive of a rival airline says Sheikh Ahmed “is by far the most approachable and switched-on aviation executive I’ve dealt with in the Middle East, especially during the crisis”.

Last year was a big year for him and for Emirates. The airline moved into its new dedicated home in Dubai’s Terminal 3, took delivery of its first A380, and Sheikh Ahmed ceased to be known as “the most eligible bachelor in the UAE” when he married the daughter of Sheikh Obaid bin Thani Al Maktoum.

Next year promises to be even more challenging. The world aviation industry is recovering, albeit slowly, from the damage sustained last year when oil prices briefly touched record a record $147 a barrel, sending fuel prices, the industry’s main operating cost, soaring.

Sheikh Ahmed’s response to previous crises has been almost Napoleonic – audacity, always audacity. During the first Gulf War, Emirates remained in the air when competitors cancelled services. It gave the whole industry a shot in the arm by confirming its commitment to A380 orders just weeks after the 9/11 attacks.

Sheikh Ahmed’s in-box at Emirates next year will have two main files: one marked “Al Maktoum airport”, and the other “A380s”.

While doubts have arisen about the new Dubai airport since the Dubai World announcement, the word is that work is progressing and its first runway and facilities will open in 2011.

On the A380s, of which 53 are under firm order, the airline has made no changes to its plans.

How both those projects proceed will depend at least in part on Sheikh Ahmed’s job on the Supreme Fiscal Committee. After the Dubai World controversy, he has already made it clear that Emirates does not have state backing. It either flies or falls as a commercial business with a steady profits record and cash-generating operations.

On the other hand, it is counted in the group of Dubai businesses under the umbrella of the Investment Corporation of Dubai, the corporate entities of which hold a large amount of the emirate’s declared debts.

The possibility that Emirates might be sold, or seek a public stock listing, has been raised and dismissed several times in the past year.

Sheikh Ahmed will argue his case from within the Supreme Fiscal Committee with his Emirates business heritage very much in mind.

A long-term friend tells how one of Sheikh Ahmed’s favourite pastimes is fishing and how he has great skill in unravelling lines that may get tangled when many fish bite at once.

The future of Emirates, and to a large degree of Dubai, will depend on his ability to help unravel the financial entanglements of the emirate.


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Dubai OFWs in face of emirate’s credit crisis

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates—With the repercussions of Dubai’s worst financial crisis still hanging thick in the air like lost secrets, life for most Filipinos working in this Middle Eastern cosmopolitan enclave goes on, their resilience hanging tough against yet another litmus test.

Christopher Benecio, a 30-year-old civil engineer from Roxas City, Panay came to Dubai November last year along with four other Filipino engineers. At the time, Dubai was already beginning to feel the effect of the global recession as companies started downsizing and retrenching in bulk.

By March the following year, all three of Benecio’s batch mates had already been terminated, with the first to lose his job in January.

Benecio has gone back to the Philippines, having left Dubai on December 5 this year on a paid vacation. But, he said, given the situation of his employer (Arif & Bintoak Consulting Architects and Engineers), he said he might opt to work for his previous employer, Megawide Construction in Makati, Metro Manila.

“We were getting fewer and fewer projects,” Benecio said, adding that Arif & Bintoak has resorted to implementing a one-month forced unpaid leave to cut cost. “If there was still no project after that period, it’s another forced leave or you can choose to be terminated,” he added. This, however, could not immediately be confirmed from company officials.

Prior to implementing a forced leave, the company cut down salaries of its employees by 10 percent and took away benefits, according to Benecio.

Moreover, he said, the situation at Arif & Bintoak is uncertain. “You don’t know when you’d finally get your notice of termination. It’s very difficult to work under that situation,” he said. “So why go back?”

Benecio did not divulge how much he was getting; he said he was able to save just enough to keep him and his family—a housewife and two children aged six and four—going during the transition to his old job when he returns home.

Benecio said he has submitted his resume to several companies in other countries and was awaiting reply.

Dubai’s construction sector was hardest hit by the global recession as the emirate’s real estate bubble burst. This being a result of what financial gurus said was the reckless and unsustainable lending practices arising from the deregulation and securitization of real estate mortgages in the United States. These mortgage-backed securities reinforced risky lending practices and, in the process, fed a global speculative real estate bubble.

Arif & Bintoak Consulting Architects and Engineers, which was established in 1975, has a portfolio that includes large-scale urban developments and had reported an annual project value of approximately $490 million.

Unlike Benecio, however, 58-year-old Alfredo Ranin, a former seaman who is now quality control officer at Wartsila Middle East and due to retire in 2011, said he’ll finish his remaining two years with the company and go home where, he said, work is also waiting for him. Home is Orion, Bataan, where his housewife, five children, and five grandchildren are.

Ranin, who has been in Dubai since 1992, said Wartsila UAE is “still busy” providing services to various ship owners, including commercial ones needing dry docking.
He said several fellow OFWs have left Wartsila UAE, apparently to dodge the effects of the ongoing crisis. “They have sought better employment opportunities at another Wartsila operation elsewhere or at a different company.”

“I’m staying. I’ll finish the two years then head home,” Ranin said.

Established in 1834 and headquartered in Helsinki, Finland, Wartsila manufactures large diesel and gas engines for ships and power generation companies. In 2008 its total workforce was 18,810 spread in several countries across the globe.

Twenty-four-year-old Katrina “Kate” Oquialda, for her part, first arrived in Dubai on March 29, 2008 on a visit visa. She found a job in June of that year as a sales merchandiser. She quit in December 2008. Failing to find a new job, she went home in March this year, and came back in August, again on a visit visa.

All in a month’s time upon her arrival, she found a job as a hotel receptionist, but resigned because she found a better-paying one as waitress at a beach bar, and then resigned again because the third one—cashier at a high-end candy and chocolate shop Candylicious—is “much, much better,” she said.

Candylicious is located in what has been hyped as the biggest mall in the world—Dubai Mall, a $20-billion project that has a wall-sized aquarium and about 1,200 shops. It opened in November last year.

Oquialda, whose family lives in Pasay, said it was tougher looking for a job in Dubai earlier this year when the effects of the global recession was at its height than it is in the past few months. “There were more job opportunities. In fact, I was able to find three in only a month’s time,” she said.

Upon her return to Dubai, Oquialda, obviously a risk-taker, had about $1,000, that, she said, her mother gave her, and which she used for the rent, utilities, and food during the time she was job-hunting. With the high cost of living in Dubai, $1,000 (or about 3,672) could only last for barely two months.

Oquialda said she’ll continue taking her chances in Dubai. “It’s a lot more difficult to find a job in the Philippines than it is here,” she said.

Arnel Sanchez, who holds a degree in accountancy with earned units in MBA and MPA arrived in Dubai on January1, 2009 to try his luck. He came on a spouse visa arranged by his wife, Mary Grace, an architect by profession working currently as senior designer at Josef Gartner GmbH-Dubai.

Sanchez was able to secure employment as purchase officer at a steel company in the Dubai Investment Park, a free trade zone, around August. He, however, quit after a month when a friend convinced him to transfer to another company which has a better offer; nothing came of it.

“I thought I would be able to move in to the new company, but nay. Now, I’m back looking for another job. That episode taught me a lesson—be contented with what you have,” he said, noting that in these trying Dubai times, the best way to go is stay where you are and weather it.

Sanchez said it’s difficult to look for a job that fits his mold. “They (prospective employers) ask for a driver’s license and ‘UAE experience,’” he explained.

Being a purchase officer, Sanchez needs mobility and, therefore, a driver’s license. It takes months in classroom lecture, driving lessons, and actual driving tests; and, at times, up to 10,000 dirhams (P130,000) to obtain a driver’s license in Dubai because of strict government measures.

Seldom does one pass an actual test on first try; it usually takes four to five attempts. A student who has failed is required to undergo lecture again before going through another actual test. The repeated lecture and actual test require another round of payments, which explains the prohibitive total cost.

Jobless as he is, Sanchez’s chances of getting a driver’s license is nil—he doesn’t have the money. Despite this, his hopes remain high. “Despite the challenges of the current economy here in Dubai and all over the world, I still don’t think it’s a bad time to be looking for a job. Demand is still high and good offers can be found at plenty of places,” he said, adding that he will also opt to apply for other jobs.

Josef Gartner GmbH—Dubai is part of the Gartner Group, which is headquartered in Germany and is engaged in steel and glass architectural structures with offices in 11 countries.

Sanchez and his wife have a five-year-old daughter staying with Sanchez’s parents in Davao.

According to the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Dubai has the most number of OFWs from among the country’s seven emirates.

The UAE, as of 2008 has 299,241 OFWs, of which 167,264 were in Dubai; 85,999 in Abu Dhabi; 28,856 in Sharjah; 9,824 in Raz al Khaima; 4,914 in Aj Man; 1,829 in Um al Qain, and 555 in Fujairah, according to MFA.

There were no immediately available official figures on the number of OFWs that have gone home due to the recession and Dubai’s debt woes.

On November 25, 2009, Dubai requested a freeze on debt repayments by its largest and most indebted group, Dubai World, liable for $59 billion. This sent shock waves in stock markets around the world as equities dropped and fears of a looming collapse of the emirate’s economy sprang forth.

This reporter had since repeatedly tried to reach Philippine Ambassador to UAE Grace Princesa, and Consul General Noel Servigon for their comments—but received no reply.


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OFWs based in Dubai to lose bonus, not jobs

First the good news: Filipinos in Dubai are not likely to lose their jobs just yet. Then the bad news: Filipinos in Dubai are not likely to receive a Christmas bonus.

While massive layoffs in Dubai are not imminent, delayed payments and reduced work hours have already been felt by overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in the debt-hit emirate, the Labor department said.

Labor Secretary Marianito Roque said most OFWs’ wages in Dubai are delayed by one to two months but quelled fears of a repeat of the massive layoffs similar to the onset of the US-led economic crisis last year.

"Some might not get their Christmas bonus," Roque told GMANews.TV during the 76th anniversary of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Tuesday. "They won’t lose jobs yet, their income would just be lessened."

The so-called Dubai debt crisis took place after a United Arab Emirates (UAE) investment company deferred debt payments for six months. This stalled the ongoing development of Dubai’s artificial islands and other construction projects.

Worries arose that Filipinos working in construction would be laid off due to the crisis.

But Roque said that except for architects and engineers, only a small percentage of the 250,000 documented and undocumented Filipinos working in the glittering Arab city are engaged in construction. Most Filipinos in the emirate are in hotels, restaurants, and IT companies.

In case OFWs do lose their jobs in Dubai, Roque assured the government would be able to secure other employment for them in neighboring Gulf countries. [See: DOLE, OWWA to provide aid to Dubai-based OFWs]

"We still have between 60,000 and 70,000 unfilled job vacancies in Qatar alone," Roque said.

But Julius Cainglet of the Federation of Free Workers said the layoffs in Dubai had already begun even in sectors deemed by the DOLE chief as safe for Pinoys.

"My friend who went to Dubai six months ago is already back in the country. He is from the IT sector. Layoffs are already happening," Cainglet told GMANews.TV.

The Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) feared that the job losses may cut OFW remittances by as much as $300 million. Next to Saudi Arabia, where some two million Filipinos work, the UAE is the Philippines’ biggest source of remittances in the Middle East.

But the TUCP admitted that remittances are expected to grow by $500 million to $1 billion to an unprecedented $17 billion this year after OFWs are seen to send more cash home to assist their families whose houses have been damaged by typhoons.


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Dubai jobseekers warned of risks

MANILA, Philippines – Job seekers should be wary of offers to work in Dubai in light of the financial crisis besetting the Middle Eastern emirate, according to Susan “Toots” Ople, a former labor undersecretary.

Ople, president of the Blas F. Ople Policy Center which supports overseas Filipino workers, noted that jobs may become scarce in Dubai since foreign investors are in a wait-and-see mode when it comes to the area. Thus, offers of job openings there may be questionable.

Dubai, which conjures up images of opulence and wealth, is now experiencing a financial crisis and has sought a six-month moratorium on debt repayment.

“We're calling on job seekers to avoid Dubai if they are offered jobs there, especially as tourist workers,” Ople said at the Kapihan sa Sulo forum.

She also said families of overseas Filipino workers in Dubai should be sensitive to the difficulties that their loved ones overseas are facing because of the crisis.

She said some wives may be expecting their husbands abroad to send home more money for the holidays, but the overseas workers may not be earning much now.

Because of the financial crisis in Dubai, many Filipino workers there are becoming worried over the security of their jobs, according to OFW groups in the area.

Migrante-United Arab Emirates earlier noted that multi and transnational companies have begun imposing salary reduction schemes in order to bring down operational costs. Workers have to agree to it because the other option is to be out of a job, it said.
The Blas F. Ople Policy Center has also reminded the government that it needs to be prepared to help its countrymen should the crisis in Dubai worsen. It said 250,000 Filipinos could be out of jobs if the situation does not improve.


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Dubai faces gradual exodus of expatriate workers

DUBAI — Construction worker Bilal is in a happy mood as he takes his lunch break sitting next to an artificial lake near Dubai's showpiece Mall of the Emirates.

But he admits anxiety about the end of his contract in one year's time, when the 24-year-old may have to return to Bangladesh.

The shock news of Dubai's debt crisis is not expected to spark an immediate surge in redundancies in the once-booming desert metropolis, but a gradual exodus is likely as workers' contracts expire and the lack of new projects means they are unable to find new jobs.

Before last year's credit crunch, Dubai and the rest of the United Arab Emirates were estimated at the end of 2007 to have a population of 6.4 million people -- of whom 5.5 million were foreigners.

More than three million were registered with the ministry of labour as workers, when Dubai was still racing to build enormous shopping centres and business districts.

But now the picture is very different. Even before state-owned Dubai World said last week that it wants to halt payments on its huge debts for at least six months, property prices were down by half and office rents by as much as two-thirds.

People from Asia, who form the majority of the construction workforce, may find their livelihoods at stake following the mothballing of hundreds of new building projects worth tens of billions of dollars.

Ferraris, Aston Martins and Maseratis are parked less than 100 metres (yards) away from where Bilal sits by the lake on Thursday, his blue safety helmet alongside him.

There is no indication anywhere nearby of the financial crisis swirling across the city.

"No, I'm not worried" about losing my job, he says. "I have worked here for two years, our company's agreement is for three years."

But he concedes that not knowing where he will work when his contract expires is a source of concern.

For Indian site engineer Thomas, unemployment is a already a reality.

He walked out of Thiruvananthapuram International airport in the southern Indian state of Kerala early on Thursday, after 10 years in the Emirati city, with just two items of hand luggage and a bundle of clothes.

His contract had been terminated by his Dubai-based construction company after the project was hit by the economic crisis.

"I was working as a site engineer in Dubai. I've no other choice than return to Kerala," 50-year-old Thomas told AFP.

"My flight was full of people returning. Sooner or later almost 80 percent of the workers will have to leave Dubai."

He said that during his time in Dubai, where many southern Indians found work, he had sent home enough money to build a house in his village and pay for his three sisters' weddings.

"What to do now?" he said. "I don't have a hefty bank balance or land to support my family. I may try my luck in Saudi Arabia or Muscat."

"Many companies in Dubai have not paid the workers for the last three months," Thomas said.

Foreign workers in the Gulf city state often face major challenges if they have to leave. A proportion have been allowed to bring in their families, which makes expatriate life easier but causes extra upheaval if the main breadwinner loses his or her job.

An even bigger proportion of Asian workers in the UAE send some of their wages as remittances to their families back home.

Dubai security guard Pradeep, 36, has connections in the transport industry in India and believes he can find a job there if he has to.

"I can also return to my home country and work," he said.

But his salary working in the emirate is enough for him to support his family at home.

He first came to Dubai in 2003, then later returned to India to work before coming back to Dubai in early 2009.

"Job is not secure, job is not secure," he said with a smile, slowly shaking his head. "The economy is very down." He added that, although this will not affect him immediately, it could cause him to lose his job in the future.

If this happens, Pradeep says he will leave Dubai once more.

Job security is "our main concern these days," said Jomy, a 35-year-old Indian working in Dubai as a contractor with a company that sells apples.

Jomy's friend Jino, also Indian, describes the economic troubles as being "industry-specific," especially in the banking sector in which he works.

"So many industries linked to it will have a chain reaction" from banking to other sectors, he added.

The change in lifestyle can be dramatic when people have to return home.

Satheesh, a civil engineer, worked in the Gulf for 19 years, including the last two years in Dubai. Now he is back home in Kochi, Kerala.

"I was getting 200,000 rupees (4,300 dollars) a month in Dubai. But now I'm unemployed as my company asked me to go on long leave and now it has closed down the project. The management has shelved 450 Indian workers. It's a bad time for me."

Many unskilled foreign workers in Dubai, with no special knowledge about the crisis, are broadly worried and just hoping for the best.

But even those specialising in finance are fearful of the prospects for once-booming Dubai.

"Of course I'm worried (the economic situation) is going to affect my bonuses by the end of the year, and there might be some job losses," said Sheraz, a Pakistani internal auditor working in Dubai for a major retail group.

"There's still a lot of uncertainty around. We don't know what will happen next year," the 27-year-old said.


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Thousands of Palestinians may lose jobs in Dubai crash

Thousands of Palestinian workers in Dubai may lose their jobs due to the financial crisis there, economists project.

Over the past few months, thousands of the estimated 100,000 Palestinian laborers working in Dubai have lost their jobs. The Gulf state's economy is grinding to a halt, due to the huge international debts the country took on to drive its breakneck expansion coupled with the global economic crisis.

Last week, the Dubai government announced its flagship conglomerate needed a six-month halt to interest payments on $59 billion worth of debt.
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Arab financial analysts said the crisis in the Gulf states, compounded by debts and falling oil prices, will affect the economy in the Palestinian Territories, where many families depend on money from relatives working in Dubai, primarily in construction.

Other Palestinians work as engineers, instructors and in technology-related professions in Dubai. Some have started construction businesses there, such as Arab-Tech, which was among the country's first victims of the financial crisis.

This recession resulted in the cancelation of building contracts and projects and sent the industry into a freeze, prompting many Palestinians to leave Dubai for neighboring Qatar - which last month injected $6 billion in fresh capital into its banking system to "restore confidence" in its own economy - and in Saudi Arabia. Some have returned to the West Bank.

One Dubai-based Palestinian businessman said Palestinians working in Dubai were generally "highly skilled personnel with long years of experience in their respective fields."

"Many West Bank families are losing their sources of income, as these people are no longer sending much money," he told Haaretz.

The sheikdom of Dubai, ruled by the Makhtoum family, has staked its future on plans to become the tourist, transport and finance hub of the Middle East, encouraging outsiders to buy apartments in the plethora of new tower blocks sprouting like poplars across the sand. But the international financial conglomerate Citigroup warned has warned that several Dubai developers have been caught in a severe squeeze, and their projects are increasingly unlikely to be finished.


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Work opportunities in Middle East 'extraordinary'

With the weak UK economy and job prospects looking slimmer than ever in some sectors, many workers are looking abroad for opportunities to earn a living, one expert in the field has observed.

According to European Recruitment Agency (ERA), the chance to be an English teacher in the Middle East is a "simply extraordinary" opportunity for UK citizens, and people willing to relocate will find that gaining employment is not a problem.

As the world is a smaller place and we now live in a global market, ERA pointed out that labour is now more mobile and so employers can draw from a wider pool of talent and find that UK staff are more affordable.

"Employees should not just think in terms of local employment opportunities - if there are no jobs where they live they shouldn't feel that they can only look to other UK cities and towns for work," the agency said.

Through ERA, prospective expatriate workers have an increasing number of opportunities to teach English in locations ranging from Dubai to Saudi Arabia and benefit from a warm climate, lucrative salary and fascinating history in the process.


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New breed of helicopters may mean more jobs for Mesa

A new breed of reconnaissance helicopters designed with foreign customers in mind could result in more jobs for Boeing Co.'s Mesa manufacturing site.

The aerospace giant, which employs about 4,500 workers at its plant next to Falcon Field, is showcasing its AH-6i helicopter at the Dubai Airshow today through Thursday.

The aircraft, which has yet to nab a customer, is part of Boeing's AH-6 line of light-attack and reconnaissance helicopters. The copters are smaller than, but contain many of the same cockpit technologies as, the Apache Longbow, the heavy-attack helicopter the firm has built for the U.S. Army for nearly 30 years.

"Essentially it is a low-cost alternative for a light-attack (helicopter)," said Tommy Filler, director of U.S. Army Apache programs.

Widespread adoption of the AH-6i could better diversify the revenue stream for Boeing's Mesa campus, which is heavily dependent on the Apache helicopter. While the U.S. Defense Department is expected to move forward with procuring new Apaches next year, any reduction in program funding could spell job cuts at the site.

Boeing announced plans for the AH-6i in October 2008, around the time the Defense Department pulled the plug on competitor Bell Helicopter's contract to replace the Army's fleet of Kiowa Warrior helicopters because of major budget overruns and schedule delays.

The Army decided to upgrade the aging Kiowa Warriors but still could move forward with the procurement of a replacement attack-reconnaissance helicopter in the future.

Boeing officials say a variation of the AH-6i could be the replacement.

Meanwhile, the company's Mesa operation is promoting the aircraft, which took its first flight in September, to international customers.

The company hopes to spark interest in the AH-6i at this week's air show in Dubai, said Mike Burke, director of Army rotorcraft business development for Boeing.

Steady orders could ultimately result in as many as 200 new jobs in Mesa, he said.

The Mesa operation currently is doing work on Apache Block III, the next phase of the Army's Apache program.

Unlike other major aircraft and vehicle programs that incurred cuts under President Obama's fiscal 2010 budget, funding for Apache is stable and expected to remain that way.

"I think this is one of the . . . higher-priority programs within the DOD," said Paul Nisbet, a defense and aerospace analyst.

Nisbet, president of JSA Research Inc. in Sarasota, Fla., said attempts to replace older aircraft have hit budget and schedule problems. That, combined with Boeing's consistent delivery track record with the Apache, has helped solidify the program as one of the military's mainstays.

Boeing received a $620 million contract in 2006 to perform system development and testing for Block III Apaches.

The company has produced five prototypes. The Army is performing "limited user testing" on three of them this month in Yuma.

The tests will help the Defense Department determine whether to move on to theinitial production phase. It's expected to decide by April, said John Schibler, Boeing's chief Apache engineer.

Boeing would begin production on the new Apaches in June if the Defense Department moves forward on the program, he said.

Army representatives in charge of the Apache program could not be reached for comment.

Key Block III upgrades include a new mission computer processor, a new electrical power system and the ability to navigate an unmanned aerial vehicle.

The software that powers the Apache's cockpit computers is designed around an "open-systems architecture" that makes it easier to make future hardware upgrades without having to retest all of the aircraft's systems.

Boeing applied that same architecture to the AH-6i.

"One of the most difficult parts of developing an attack and reconnaissance helicopter is integrating all of the sensors and integrating all of the weapons into a complete package," Burke said. "The Block III Apache already has that. Eighty-three percent of the software in the mission computer of the AH-6 is a direct lift from the Apache Block III."

Boeing, like other U.S. defense contractors, sees major opportunities in foreign markets in the years ahead. Foreign business could cushion cuts to domestic weapons programs and keep production lines active.

"This is one of the highest-tech industries that exists in this country," Chris Raymond, vice president of business development for Boeing's Integrated Defense Systems unit, told analysts at a defense-industry forum Tuesday in New York
. "It is an industry base to be concerned about and protected to some degree."


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Uganda wants to send thousands to UAE to work as security guards

DUBAI // Uganda wants to send thousands more of its people to the UAE next year to work as security guards.

On a three-day visit to the Emirates, Dr Emmanuelle Otaala, Uganda’s minister of labour, said his delegation had met recruitment organisations and found that working conditions for the guards were far better in the UAE than elsewhere.

Dr Otaala said he had tried to find out how Uganda could compete more favourably for security jobs against other countries – including India, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Kenya and Pakistan.

There are currently about 1,000 Ugandan security guards working in the UAE. Dr Otaala visited First Security Group in Dubai, where about 300 of them are employed. He also met his UAE counterpart, Saqr Ghobash Saeed Ghobash.

Dr Otaala said Uganda was exploring job opportunities in the UAE in other sectors, including medicine, hospitality, accountancy, retail, teaching, aviation and journalism.

The focus for now, however, was security, said Dr Otaala, who was accompanied by Milton Turyasima, the labour ministry’s first secretary, and Ojja Andira, the commissioner of employment.

Ugandans were well-placed for security jobs in terms of training, professional etiquette and fluency in English, Dr Otaala said.

“We have seen a lot of potential in the Middle East.

“Our diplomatic missions have been entrusted to study the requirements for us to penetrate the manpower supply in this region. We would consider teaching Arabic if language is an obstacle.”

Mr Turyasima said the Ugandan government was conscious that it should regulate the supply of workers to the Middle East to thwart attempts at human trafficking.



“We also have reservations over jobs like housemaids because a maid’s rights can easily be abused. As a government we are not licensing anyone to export maids in any foreign country,” Mr Turyasima said.

Uganda was looking at ways of helping several Ugandan women who came to the UAE looking for work, only to end up victims of trafficking, he added.

Uganda established an embassy in Abu Dhabi last month.


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Dubai, Abu Dhabi eye the zenith with aerospace plans

UAE firms remain alert to manufacturing and technology opportunities


Dubai: The UAE is soon to become part of the global aviation supply chain with the governments of Dubai and Abu Dhabi showing strong interest in aircraft manufacturing processes on a commercial scale.

Both governments have been steaming ahead with joint ventures or part-acquisition of global aviation assets in order to gain access to aviation technologies while keeping options open for technology transfers that will eventually boost the UAE's prospects for a more significant role in the global aviation industry.

Investment in the UAE's airline and aviation industry is expected to soar to Dh550 billion.

This figure includes Emirate's aircraft order book, which exceeds $50 billion (Dh183.7 billion) and Etihad's combined (aircraft and engines) order book worth nearly $60 billion, the Dubai Government's investment in airport and associated developments to the tune of $30 billion and the Abu Dhabi International Airport redevelopment project worth $7 billion.

In addition to these, the Sharjah Government and Air Arabia are also expanding capacities.

Dubai made the first move by acquiring a stake in Doncaster before launching Dubai World Centre (DWC) — the world's biggest purpose-built greenfield aviation city covering 140 square kilometres.

DWC will host the world's biggest airport — DWC Al Maktoum International Airport — and Dubai Aviation City.

In 2006, the Dubai Government launched Dubai Aerospace Enterprise — a Dh55 billion investment vehicle — to attract investment in aviation technologies through joint ventures at the Dubai Aviation City.

Business opportunity

Khalifa Al Zafein, executive chairman of Dubai Aviation City Corporation (DACC), observed: "Dubai Aviation City's unique investment and business opportunities bring significant benefits to the entire value-chain of the global aviation industry, including aircraft manufacturers, executive aviation firms, maintenance, repair and overhaul centres and others."

However, Abu Dhabi, which was slightly late to the game, has been quick to catch up. Mubadala, an Abu Dhabi Government investment vehicle, had earlier launched Strata — an advanced composites and aero structures manufacturing facility — which started a 12-month countdown to becoming a supplier to the global aerospace manufacturing industry.

Strata has set up a 21,600-square metres facility and created 1,000 jobs within a span of only six years. Mubadala has confirmed Dh7.3 billion worth of work packages with partners Airbus, Alenia Aeronautica and FACC.

"The aerospace sector is a key part of the emirate's economic diversification plans which aims to create a high-tech, knowledge intensive economy, and provide career opportunities for the current and future UAE workforce," Mubadala said.

Strata will deliver the first work package — the A330/A340 Flap Track Fairings — from FACC. The transfer plan has been approved by Airbus and the first article inspection is scheduled to take place by end of the third quarter of 2010 in Al Ain.

"Strata is a major milestone for Abu Dhabi in its aspirations to become a leading manufacturing base for the global aerospace industry," said Humaid Al Shemmari, associate director of Mubadala Aerospace.

Subsequent phases of expansion are planned to provide a total facility in excess of 60,000 square metres over the next decade.


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Ministry to reform typing centres

DUBAI // The Ministry of Labour plans to overhaul the system by which it accepts applications for work permits, trade licences and other items through external typing offices, following reports of abuse including forgery.

Five Sharjah-based typing offices were recently barred from providing ministry services, according to Humaid bin Deemas, the ministry’s acting director general, after they were caught using forged documents in applications.

Thousands of such offices are connected to a system that enables companies and individuals to submit paperwork and applications directly to the ministry through the typing centres.

In a bid to stamp out abuses of the system, the MoL has announced plans to license service centres so such transactions will be offered only through offices that meet standards set out by the ministry.

“We do not know when we will complete the project, but [eventually] all the current typing offices will no longer be able to provide our services, and once we feel that the new centres have the capacity to take the load we will block the existing typing offices from the system,” Mr bin Deemas said.

The five Sharjah companies were barred from the ministry’s “smart form system” after they were found submitting applications on behalf of private companies using fake documents.

There are around 5,000 typing offices in the country, according to the Government, which are linked to the smart form system – the software used to electronically process Ministry of Labour transactions.

A trade licence, for example, which is acquired and renewed with the economic department, also needs to be registered with the ministry. In the case of the five companies, the original documents were not shown, and forged trade licences were submitted, according to Mr bin Deemas. Some of the firms involved may have been front companies, he said.

“We do not know the type of offence carried out by the typing offices in question, but the smallest offence could be negligence as they did not ask for the original [document],” he said. “It had major repercussions and they might also have been collaborating with these companies.”

The co-operation between the ministry and the typing offices started in 1999, when the offices began helping customers fill out applications. Today, the offices accept applications on behalf of the ministry, collect ministry fees and fines and provide legal advice.

In recent years, however, some problems have surfaced, including inaccurate data entry and overcharging. Some of these cases have been referred to the public prosecution, Mr bin Deemas said.

“The experience of typing offices was suitable for the previous phase, but now there is a need to review this experience as it has developed many problems such as submitting of applications with fake documents and a huge gap in application fees,” he said.

The planned service centres will also carry out many of the jobs the ministry currently handles, as well as continue the typing duties.

“The new centres will have to meet 23 criteria to acquire the licence, such as providing a convenient location for their centres and having minimum size for the centre,” Mr bin Deemas said.

The new system is already being applied in Ajman and Umm al Qaiwain, each of which have two such centres. No other typing offices in either emirate have access to the ministry’s system, according to Mr bin Deemas.

Under the ministry’s proposals, the new centres must be owned and managed by Emiratis, and the plan envisages that eventually only Emirati staff will be employed. The system will also see a standard fee of Dh35 per application charged.

The ministry is also setting up a new department that would monitor the centres to assure the quality of the services provided, Mr bin Deemas said.

While acknowledging that there have been instances of abuse of the system, some typing office employees defended their business practices, saying that the entire industry should not be penalised for the misconduct of a few companies.

Fazullah Sadeq, the co-owner of a group of nine typing offices in Sharjah and Dubai, including Al Maha, has been in the industry for the last 10 years and said the offices take the ministry’s procedures seriously.

“Before accepting any application we make sure that the customer provides us with correct documents,” he said. He believed it was unfair to blame the industry for the “misuse of power” by a small number of people. Shabir Hussein, an employee of Eidad typing office, who has been working in the field for 13 years, said some people had tried to bribe him into reducing a ministry fine they were due to pay through his company.

“They think that we can do that,” he said. “They do not understand that we cannot overstep the system; there is no room to go around the system. I know that there are some in the industry that are careless and do not check the documents carefully, but why should the whole industry be punished for such individual practices?”

Mohammed Sayed, an employee at Ammar typing office, said the ministry needed to provide a solution without denying them access to the system.

“Why can they not unify the fees for typing offices and provide training for us to eliminate the problems if there are any?” he asked.


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Job hunters fall prey to recruitment racket

A major recruitment racket run by swindlers, who falsely claim to represent leading UAE business groups and companies, is defrauding job hunters from around the world.

Jobseekers have been told to beware unsolicited job offers supposedly made on behalf of large businesses or government establishments.

Many have been duped by fraudsters, who offer jobs without carrying out interviews. Some of the fraudsters even claim to be acting on behalf of Dubai Municipality. The latest cases involve a bogus oil and gas company and recruiters who falsely say they represent the Emirates Group.

The fake company, Ajman Petroleum, claims to own the Upper Zakum oilfield, the largest in Abu Dhabi. It tricks jobseekers into paying processing fees that are collected by a travel agent linked to the fraud.

The company has an attractive website and has allegedly duped overseas candidates seeking openings in the UAE energy sector.

An Indian engineer, who was recently laid off by a company in a GCC country, said he saw job advertisements placed by Ajman Petroleum, which said it was looking for professionals to work in the company's major oilfields in Abu Dhabi.

The company claims it operates from Ajman Free Zone and says on its website: "Ajman Petroleum LLC was established in 1977 to operate the Upper Zakum field, one of the largest oilfields in the world."

The Zakum oilfield is, in fact, owned by Zakum Development Company (Zadco), which is based at the Sheikh Khalifa Energy Complex. Ajman Petroleum's website carries text and images copied from Zadco's site.

The conned engineer said: "After I contacted the company via e-mail, they accepted all my demands and promised me a job as an oilfield manager.

"They told me to contact a travel agent in Ajman to obtain a visa and other documents. When I contacted the travel agency, they asked me to send Dh1,270 as processing fees. I became suspicious and checked with my friends in the UAE to find out whether Ajman Petroleum was the country's leading oil and gas company. They said there was no big oil company in the UAE with such a name." While the engineer has not lost any money, other candidates have paid the processing fees and are still waiting for their dream jobs in the oil sector. They are told their expenses, including airfare and residency permit fees, will be reimbursed by the company when their first salary is paid.

In a number of cases, jobseekers have received unsolicited e-mails from Ajman Petroleum. The messages say: "Dear applicant, this is to acknowledge we have received all your documents and CV and affirm that your qualification and experience are found suitable to work with Ajman Petroleum LLC.

"If you are not a resident of the UAE, you will undergo a month's training programme with us upon your arrival. The programme shall enlighten you more on the main services required from you for Ajman Petroleum LLC, UAE for the position offered, and your salary will be paid during the training programme."

The e-mail tells the prospective employees to contact Ajman Tourism Group to obtain a visa and other documents as the company has a special agreement with the agency.

The company places job advertisements in the classified sections of newspapers and on internet recruitment sites to lure overseas candidates. It advertises job openings in the oil and gas field and writes to candidates responding to advertisements.

Visitors to the Ajman Petroleum LLC website at www.ajman-petroleum.eu.pn are likely to be astonished by the claims made in it.

The company says it is a prominent oil producer in the region and was formed by Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan in 1977 to develop and operate the Zakum field. There are, in fact, no major oil companies based at Ajman Free Zone.

Upper Zakum is a major contributor to Abu Dhabi's oil output and has the potential for substantial increases in production.

Meanwhile, some jobseekers have been approached by swindlers claiming to represent Emirates, and the group's human resources department has issued a statement stressing it never asks for money to process job applications.

"Emirates and Dnata have become aware that members of the public are receiving e-mails which contain fraudulent employment opportunities with Emirates Group," says the statement.

"These e-mails often contain fake offers of employment requesting personal information or payment to process a job application or payment to process visas. Please note that Emirates Group never requests payment or fees for processing of job applications."

The group's HR department says its personnel never send job offers using their personal yahoo.com, gmail or hotmail accounts.

"The company advertises all job openings on its official website and always conducts a face-to-face interview before determining a suitable candidate," the statement adds. "Offers of employment without any form of interview are most likely to be fraudulent.

"Emirates Group never requests payment or fees for job applications. If you have never applied for a job with Emirates Group or a reputable recruitment agency, you should be cautious of random offers of employment."

The Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA), too, has sent regular alerts about a "fraudulent investment scheme", which is using a fake letter in the name of the authority to lure investors to a dubious scheme.

An alert from DFSA said: "The Dubai Financial Services Authority alerts the community to a fraudulent investment scheme which is using a fake DFSA letter. The scheme consists of a communication to individuals stating they have won several hundred thousands of US dollars in the 'Middle East-Asia Promotion' sponsored by the 'Emirates Foundation'.

"In order to claim the prize, individuals are advised by the fake letter to transfer a sum of money to DFSA for registration of funds meant for international remittance before such funds could be approved for release. A person purporting to be the head of operations, international swift remittance/transfer department of a UAE Bank provides the individual instructions on how to make the transfer," the market regulator said earlier.

"The fake DFSA letter is unauthorised use of the name, logo and letterhead of DFSA and is fraudulent. The DFSA strongly advises people not to respond to such communication and report such cases to the authority's complaint section."

Such frauds are occasionally reported by the DFSA.


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More job cuts feared

A second wave of job cuts could continue into next year as companies feel the pinch of the economic downturn, a senior banker has warned despite renewed confidence in a recovery.

The global slump has seen thousands of jobs lost in the financial and property sectors in the UAE during the past 12 months as credit lines have dried up and commercial and residential property sales have stalled.

Concern about further redundancies could put even more strain on the consumer business of banks, which have already been forced to set aside billions of dirhams since the beginning of the year to cover potential defaults.

“We are not out of the woods yet, by no stretch of imagination. We may see some corporate failures and stress in the corporate world,” said Chris de Bruin, the country head of consumer banking at Standard Chartered. “Our biggest challenge [as consumer bankers] are people who have lost their jobs.”

Suvo Sarkar, the head of consumer banking at Emirates NBD, echoed that view and said the economy could witness further distress during the next six months. “It is a difficult time for consumer banks right now,” Mr Sarkar said. “The fourth quarter and first quarter of 2010 will be tough, but the second half should get better.”

The warnings came despite signs of renewed economic confidence emerging last week. Dr Omar bin Sulaiman, the vice chairman of the UAE Central Bank, said on Thursday he expected the economy to grow between 3.5 and 4.5 per cent next year, although an official forecast has not yet been published.

But even economists who have predicted a strong recovery fear that credit-starved small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) may feel more pain.

Simon Williams, the chief regional economist at HSBC, expects the UAE’s economy to grow by 4.5 per cent next year but said increased spending may come too late for some companies.

“I think we will see a significant pick-up in economic activity next year, and credit growth will resume, but it will be a top down process, and it’s going to take time to feed through to SMEs,” Mr Williams said. “Some firms may find they can’t hold on.”

Squeezed by shrinking margins and rising costs, many small companies have found it hard to get credit after global investors pulled an estimated Dh180 billion (US$49bn) out of the economy in the aftermath of the collapse of Lehman Brothers last year.

Last week, Deyaar, which is one of Dubai’s largest developers, shed 20 per cent of its staff after reporting a 74 per cent drop in third-quarter profits from the same period last year. Dubai World has cut some 12,000 jobs, or 15 per cent of its staff, to rake in $800 million in savings in three years. Meanwhile, local lenders may have also lost about 1,000 jobs, Mr de Bruin said.

“Next year we will still see quite a lot of stress as people continue to lose their jobs. We are still on high alert,” he said.

A lack of reliable statistics makes it impossible to accurately assess the number of jobs lost across the Emirates this year.

While most analysts agree that job cuts have slowed considerably this year, the fallout from the global financial crisis continues to work through the economy. “If a company stops a project with 1,000 workers, that has ripple effects and draws concentric circles,” Mr de Bruin said.

Bobby Sarkar, an analyst at Al Mal Capital, said default rates had climbed during the past year. “We have seen a fair amount of turbulence, particularly in unsecured-lending products, personal loans and credit cards,” he said.

On average, bank customers across the Emirates are unable to pay back Dh2.50 for every Dh100 of lending. That rate could increase to as much as 10 per cent for personal loans and credit cards.

The lack of bankruptcy protection in the UAE makes consumer banks particularly susceptible to job losses. “People are unable to manage their creditors in a good way. This crisis is catching on where the legal framework is not strong,” said Mr de Bruin.

The UAE does not have a system that allows individuals or companies to ask courts for bankruptcy protection.

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Mock Job Interview Day at Dubai Womens College prepares final year students for job search

Dubai Women’s College (DWC) organized recently the Mock Job Interview Day for more than 300 final year students. The mock job interviews provided a realistic set up with every student being interviewed by a panel of two DWC teachers/staff members, who judged student interview performance, as well as their CV and cover letter writing competencies’.

“I was well prepared for the interview and this was a training session for the real job interview.” said Farah Humaid, a DWC Higher Diploma Business student. Students commented that they learned something new about themselves during the interview process and they now feel better prepared to face the challenges of a real life interview.

DWC organizes the Mock Job Interview Day annually as a part of students’ vocational training in the English Curriculum. The program aims to help students develop their interview skills in order to prepare them for work placement and real jobs after they graduate. All students are given feedback on their performance and a chance to improve on their skills. The interview assessment criteria include communication skills, vocational competency, critical thinking, problem solving, and professionalism. Prior to the Mock Job Interview Day, students are taught how to write a CV and cover letter, as well as how to behave in a professional manner during the interview.

Commenting on the event, Dr. Ewa Gajer, DWC’s English faculty, and Mock Job Interview Day Team Leader,said“To help our students succeed in today’s very competitive job market; these interviews are made as realistic as possible.” The students first find it very daunting and apprehensive but with practice they build self-confidence and are better prepared for actual job interviews. “The next step following the Mock job interview is for students to research a company they would like to work for,” she concluded.

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Dubai wants axed Anglesey Aluminium workers

AXED aluminium workers on Anglesey are being targeted by a company developing the world’s biggest smelter complex nearly 4,000 miles away in the Middle East.

More than 300 workers lost their jobs at Anglesey Aluminium in Holyhead last month when smelting operations were halted over the failure to secure a new power deal.

Now the Emirates Aluminium Company, which is building a $5.7bn the giant smelter at Khalifa Port between Dubai and Abu Dhabi, has launched a recruitment campaign to target the redundant workers.

They want the workers to help staff the smelter complex where production is set to start in 2010.

Unite the Union said the offers would do nothing for the long-term future of the region.

One redundant worker said moving abroad was an option that former workers could be forced to take because of a lack of local opportunities.

Dad-of-two Alwyn Roberts, 47, of Llanfairpwll, said: "I have searched locally but there is nothing but part-time work. Moving abroad is a last resort but is something I have to consider, particularly if I want to earn comparable wages.

"I have spoken to the family and they are not keen, but if there is nothing at all here then I have look at other possibilities. I have teenage girls so being away months at a time is not ideal but I have to find work."

Graham Rogers, regional organiser from Unite, said: "This is no long term solution and what we need are jobs and opportunities in North Wales, not thousands of miles away.

"Workers taking these jobs could put a huge strain on relationships and families, it is certainly not ideal although I know there are very few opportunities back here at the moment. Those who have found work locally have taken large pay cuts."

Founded in February 2007, Emirates Aluminium (Emal), an $8bn joint venture of Dubai Aluminium and Abu Dhabi government-owned investment vehicle Mubadala Development Company, aims to create the world’s largest single-site smelter complex.

MP Albert Owen said: "The fact that the workers are wanted across the world proves the skills and experience base we have here on Anglesey. We need to redouble the efforts to keep those skills on Anglesey. If people do go abroad we need to ensure that opportunities are creating in the future so they can come back."

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Dubai recruiter referred to public prosecutor on fees

The UAE Ministry of Labour said on Thursday it has referred Dubai recruitment agency Execuland to the public prosecutor after the company was found to be charging jobseekers for their applications.

A sting operation by the Ministry of Labour (MoL), one in a series of crackdowns on rogue recruiters in the country, found that the company was charging candidates for applying for jobs.

“The ministry has suspended the company file, which means stopping the issuance of new work permits, and has transferred the case to the public prosecutor to take the necessary legal action,” said Maher Hamad Al Obad, the executive director of inspection.

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70,000 Arab graduates migrate for overseas jobs annually

Dubai, Sep 6 (IANS) Some 70,000 Arab university graduates migrate annually to foreign countries for jobs, while 54 percent of Arab students studying abroad do not return to their native places, resulting in huge economic losses for governments in the region, WAM news agency reported.
Arab countries, which make substantial investments for educating and training youths, lose over $1.5 billion due to migration of graduates for overseas jobs, while recipient countries exploit the refined talent without having to spend on education, a study conducted by Department of Population and Migration Policies of the 22-member Arab League said.

In light of the present economic realities, an opportunity has therefore opened for talent-exporting countries within the Arab World to introduce policies to reverse the trend of brain drain, the study noted.

It urged the Arab countries to formulate measures to create rewarding work and investment opportunities at home to stop the mass migration of graduates for overseas jobs.

Citing statistics obtained from the Arab League, ILO, UNESCO and other Arab and international organisations, it noted that about 100,000 scientists, doctors and engineers leave Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Jordan, Egypt, Tunis, Morocco and Algeria annually.

Seventy percent of the scientists do not return home, while about 50 percent of doctors, 23 percent of engineers and 15 percent of scientists move to Europe, the US and Canada.

The study indicated that it is imperative for the talent-exporting Arab countries to learn from previous experiences such as the Non-Resident Indian programme, which the Indian government introduced during the past few years to attract Indian expatriates back home.

The study also highlighted the need to establish a robust network and communication line with immigrant communities abroad to allow the governments of various Arab countries to disseminate information about new opportunities back home.

The skilled and successful entrepreneurs when they return home would help generate domestic jobs, potentially double the national income, consolidate the economy and even help the country catch up with established international job markets, the study added.

Some of the measures the governments can introduce include simplifying the process to set up businesses, offering relaxed regulations, improving living standards and public services, instituting healthier pension and compensation plans, improving national security measures and investing in new infrastructure and development projects, it said.

The Arab region is expected to register a labour force growth of 3.5-4.0 percent over the next 10-15 years. The World Bank estimates that to keep up with that growth, the region will have to create 55-70 million new jobs, WAM reported Saturday.

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Dubai Employers Turn To Young Workers

A government-backed supermarket chain in Dubai is targeting young people in an effort to help the emirate reduce its dependency on foreign labour.

The sight of young Emirati men and women working as fishmongers and bakers or checkout assistants and shelf-stackers is very unusual.

The jobs are normally filled by Dubai's massive foreign workforce.

Emirati workers in the retail sector are still a minority within a minority.

Nationals constitute less than 20% of the total population and according to some researchers make up less than 1% of the private sector workforce.

This is because employers in the emirate have found it notoriously difficult to attract young nationals into the private sector.

They mostly favour working in the public sector - which offers more pay, far fewer working hours, longer holidays and security.

There is also the issue of prestige. Working in a supermarket still carries, for many Emiratis, a stigma.

But the Aswaaq stores are providing an unlikely setting for a cultural revolution.

One of Aswaaq's objectives is to challenge cultural taboos and popular misconceptions.

Amal Al Suwaidi, an Aswaaq retail manager, said: "We have managed to become the first retailer that has Emiratis not only as cashiers and in administrative positions.

"If you walk around you will see them working in the fishery, the delicatessen and you will see them in the bakery too.

"This has been a real challenge for us, to convince them to take these jobs."

Mustafa Ahmad is one of Aswaaq'a new recruits and the 24-year-old produce supervisor stands out among the fruit and vegetable display.

His bright white traditional robe contrasts sharply against the shiny, green peppers.

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Dubai Dream Defies Logic: Expats Still Want to Live & Work in Dubai

Why do people still want to live and work in Dubai when the bubble has burst and things have turned ugly?

A friend recently over-nighted in Dubai on his way to New Zealand: this is a stop off on a trip he makes up to six times a year for business. On his return he commented how Dubai was dead…on further questioning he said the city felt lifeless to him, the airport felt deserted and all in all, the soul seemed to have been sucked out of Dubai.

He recalled the days he’d spent in the city over the past 3 – 4 years when the buzz, the hype and the vibe was somehow infectious – it was as if the positive excitement that Dubai was purveying with its lofty ambitions was transmittable, and everyone in Dubai was riding a wave of endorphins and adrenaline, high on the prospects and the prosperity. But according to our friend, all that has now been leeched out of the city and out of its residents who have all been affected by the massive and dramatic downturn in the emirate.

However, the Dubai dream still exists, and it is seemingly defying logic – expats still want to live in Dubai and would-be expats still write to us asking about working in Dubai, getting jobs and visas. So, we decided we’d better update our position on the emirate for anyone still actively considering their options, and who is looking at Dubai as a real prospect in lifestyle and employment terms.

Just in case you’ve been living in a parallel universe, we’d better begin this report by pointing out that the entire world is living through troubled economic times at the moment! The UK is officially in the worst recession since WWII, parts of mainland Europe are also wallowing in the doldrums of fiscal depression, and all across the world, from the USA to the UAE, nations’ balance sheets are lodged in the red, with no real prospects of a positive and fast turn around any time soon.

Thanks to globalisation as a real concept, when a country like America sneezes, parts of the rest of the world now catch pneumonia – or swine flu! This is because many countries are inextricably financially linked through global business ties - from international banking to import and export – and if one country suffers, we all suffer. Naturally as the fact that globalisation has become such a reality, so the current financial crisis many nations are suffering internally has become a global pandemic of fiscal decline…and almost no other location has suffered so catastrophically and so visibly as Dubai.

Dubai was the fastest growing city in the world – in terms of the rate of population inflow, in terms of the physical rate it was expanding with land reclamation and building development, and in terms of the money it was generating through business, investment and expansion. Dubai was a fantasy that was becoming a reality, it was a dream destination, an incredible example to us all that having very great ambitions is no bad thing, dreams can come true - and this reality that Dubai presented to the rest of the world became something we all wanted to be a part of. Even those who were turned off by the naked opulence and the ‘in your face’ excesses of the emirate couldn’t ignore it! And anyone looking for true opportunities for fiscal greatness knew that there was only one place to go and be, and that was Dubai.

And then everything changed. America’s banks began going bankrupt, and this had an international impact. Britain bankrupted itself and its citizens for many generations to come by holding up their banks from falling into a financial black hole. Credit lines dried up to everyone, from the likes of you and me seeking a mortgage or a business loan, to globally reaching businesses like those building, expanding or operating in Dubai…and all of a sudden, Dubai’s debt became apparent. And it is massive on an almost incomprehensible scale – some say $80 billion, most say far more. Therefore the expansion of the emirate stopped, building projects were put on hold, those who have made down payments for off plan property have yet to see the fruition of their investment in a number of cases, and ambitious developments such as Dubaiworld have been frozen for the foreseeable future.

Just as quickly as Dubai’s prospects flourished, so its bubble has burst and companies have left, investment has dried up, expatriates have been bankrupted and the mood has turned ugly. Those responsible for building Dubai – the Pakistani, Indian and Bangladeshi workers – are suffering more than most. Trapped by hideous conditions of employment and appalling wages, they are living and dying in poverty and emotional pain in Dubai. This is a side that no one wants to see or even think about – yet it exists. No one cares about these people. On another level, locals are becoming more aggressive to those Westerners who remain – in terms of blaming them for the fall out in Dubai, resenting their ways and excesses and seemingly cracking down to the letter of the law and imprisoning people for anything and everything from Westerners of the opposite sex sharing a property when unmarried, to Westerners bouncing a cheque.

So how come people still want to move to live and work in Dubai?

Well, in part people are still lulled and lured by the tax-free lifestyle – and it exists and can be fantastic. Wages, when you get a professional posting in Dubai, are impressive and made more so by the fact that they are paid without the deduction of taxation. The shopping, dining and entertainment options and alternatives in Dubai are excellent, therefore you have a lot to spend your money and time on. The lifestyle can be great – you can have staff working for you, you can have your children privately educated, you can go to your private, members only beach club every day – you can even buy and consume alcohol, go to a different party or expat event every night and have a good time. However, you have to work harder than ever to find a job, you have to be prepared that many companies’ positions in Dubai are unstable and that you could therefore be left without a contract, and that if you lose your employment contract you have to leave Dubai within a month. You have to pay for your rent up to a year in advance and if you lose your job and have to leave you may well not get that back. If you have made a life for yourself in Dubai, you have a car, a home, furniture and even pets for example, 30 days is not long to find a new life to ship your family and possessions to or to sell or off load your property and your assets.

So, is Dubai worth the risk? Is Dubai worth turning a blind eye to the exploitation and the double standards? Is Dubai a prospect worth betting on?

Some people think so – and on closer scrutiny, most people believe that Dubai will rebound…that what has happened has been a fairly positive thing to slow excessive growth down to a more sustainable and realistic level. And on this point we have to agree. Dubai will survive and thrive again in time – at least on a fiscal level. So prospects will begin to reappear, the lifestyle will become more appealing as job security returns to the market, and building projects will slowly start up again so the workers will have something to do all day other than live in hell.

But will Dubai learn from this, will it improve in terms of social, moral and equality standards? Of that we are doubtful. So, if you can live with the reality of the emirate, the way poorer people are treated and how you too will be treated if you break the sometimes arcane and draconian laws or if you lose your job, then go for it.

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Dubai’s economy undergoing structural shift toward long-term sustainability, says Dr Omar Bin Sulaiman

The composition of Dubai’s economy will undergo a structural shift over the next few years toward sustainable long-term sectors such as transportation, healthcare, education, tourism and financial services, Dr Omar Bin Sulaiman, Governor of the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), told members of the Dubai Chamber of Commerce & Industry on Thursday.



“This shift in the relative importance of various sectors of the economy is, in fact, a central component of the Dubai Strategic Plan 2015, but it’s happening more quickly than envisioned by the plan, largely due to the impact of the global crisis,” said Bin Sulaiman during the Dubai Chamber’s quarterly Business Breakfast, its second of 2009.


“Additionally, because many of these sectors impact residents’ quality of life, the shift currently underway will further enhance Dubai as a place to live, especially alongside the government’s continued support of culture and the arts,” Bin Sulaiman told the participants.



At the same time, high-growth industries such as real estate will continue to be integral to the make-up of Dubai’s economy, he said.



The networking event is part of the Dubai Chamber’s active support and promotion of the interests of the emirate’s business community, as well as the Dubai Government’s policy of dialogue and engagement with the private sector. “This event aims at facilitating direct communication between public and private sectors where our members are presented with an opportunity to put forward issues and challenges that they face before the concerned officials.” Stated HE Hamad Buamim, Director General of Dubai Chamber of Commerce & Industry, during his presentation on the latest developments witnessed by Dubai business community.



Buamim stated that Dubai’s Economy is witnessing the first signs of recovery and investors are showing more confidence. “According to the latest findings and figures profit rates in the banking sector has only dropped by 4%, while assets increased by 2%. Passenger traffic recorded by Dubai International Airport increased by 6.5% in April, and it is expected that this number reaches 10% in 2009, in a strong indication that Dubai is still a favored business and tourist destination, and it is ranked as the top FDI destination city in the World by the FT report” stated Buamim, while highlighting other equally significant growth rates recorded by the tourism and hospitality industry, electricity and water demand, in addition to Dubai’s recent population growth by 8%.



“Despite the crises Dubai’s current exports are still growing in comparison with the exports of 2007, since 2008 was an exceptional year of growth and 2007 is the norm and we still expect to see more growth,” he concluded.



During his keynote speech Dr. Omar Bin Sulaiman added: “We are blessed to be living in an open and flexible market economy that allows us to adjust quickly in the face of rapidly changing global conditions. As a result, we soon will begin to see signs of a mature economy taking shape in Dubai and the UAE.”



Despite these shifts, trade will remain a significant contributor to the emirate’s GDP, especially given the substantial investment in Dubai’s transport and logistics infrastructure and the more than 200 destinations served by its seaports and airports.



And while acknowledging that this economic shift comes with pain to some companies and employees, he said the issue is more about a shift in the mix of jobs, rather than a decline in employment. “While there has been a loss of jobs in real estate and related sectors for example, positions are opening up in healthcare, education, hospitality, financial services and trade.”



Examples of this include Emaar who recently announced the creation of 10,000 jobs in Dubai Mall as well as its hospitality and entertainment divisions, the more than 2,000 new employees that will be hired by Dubai Metro by the time it opens in September, and the thousands of healthcare workers who will be employed by clinics and hospitals opening in Dubai Healthcare City and elsewhere in the emirate.



With regard to the financial services sector, Bin Sulaiman said company applications to DIFC’s regulator, the Dubai Financial Services Authority, are running higher in 2009 to date than over the same period in 2008.



“This means that the DIFC will continue to be a major driver of growth in the number of high-end professionals working in Dubai, both today and in the future. For example, at the end of 2008, there were more than 14,000 of these professionals working at the DIFC, a number set to grow to 60,000 by the time the DIFC is completely built,” Bin Sulaiman said.



Among the many steps the government is taking in its primary role as infrastructure provider and business enabler is support of the skilled workers already here in Dubai, through flexibility regarding visas of those who have lost their jobs.



Moreover, the Dubai Government is working on creating a fund to support Dubai-based entrepreneurs who are running small- and medium-sized businesses, an initiative led by the Dubai Department of Economic Development.


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