HONG KONG: For lawyer Wilfred Goh, the sign it was time to leave Dubai came early in 2009, when the financial crisis took its toll, plunging the emirate's main stock index down roughly 70 percent in a matter of months.
After speaking to friends and government officials, Goh decided to return to Asia, with the thought that Hong Kong, China or Singapore offered better job opportunities. Goh, 47, eventually got a job back home in Singapore.
"We just felt Dubai's economic climate was not very good and they had started to retrench people," said Goh, who works at the Central Chambers Law Corp in Singapore.
The flight of top foreign work talent from the Gulf's financial hub began in early 2009, and levelled off as the market recovered toward the middle of the year. But then Dubai dropped a bombshell in November, disclosing a delay on a massive debt pile.
The $26 billion debt debacle sank Dubai's markets and spurred many foreign professionals to hasten their retreat from the city-state for more job security.
Precise numbers of job losses is unknown, but estimates say thousands of foreigners have been fired or forced to leave Dubai this year.
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