Fears of more UAE job cuts

Abd Al-Khaleq Tharwat
For Al-Shorfa.com
2009-05-06

An Emirati bank employee. Most employees in the United Arab Emirates fear the loss of their jobs. (AFP/Getty Images)

DUBAI – A new poll shows that three-quarters of the workforce in the United Arab Emirates fear losing their jobs and believe that further layoffs are imminent.

Conducted jointly by internet market research firm YouGov and recruitment agency Bayt.com, the survey found that fears of job losses were higher in the UAE than anywhere else in the Middle East or North Africa, although expectations were generally low throughout the region.

A total of 10,781 employees in 12 countries were surveyed between March 17 and April 6 , and 57 percent of those polled in the UAE responded that their companies had already cut jobs, as compared to a regional average of 43 percent.

Bayt.com’s regional manager Amer Zureikat said, “With the region in the full grip of recession, the results of the survey demonstrate that local professionals are very much concerned both about their own job security and that of their company." According to the poll, 52 percent of employees in the UAE, most of them in their 30s, are worried that the steady stream of layoffs will continue, while 59 percent responded that they could not be certain that their companies will not close down altogether.

Of all the countries covered by the survey, Qatar, the UAE, Kuwait and Bahrain showed the highest levels of anxiety at the current crisis and the highest level of concern about job cuts. There has been an exodus of foreign workers from the United Arab Emirates in recent months amidst concerns that the shrinking labour market will further contract in the face of global challenges.

Saudi Minister for Higher Education and Scientific Research Sheikh Nahyan Bin Mubarak said that the state must play a greater role within the labour market to ensure that the majority of citizens are able to find work in the current competitive climate.

Sources: Al-Iqtisadiya/ Reuters

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