Christmas in the midst of a crisis
Employee: "It's Christmas!"
Employer:"Due to the current economic situation, I'm afraid this is the decision of the management. I'm sorry. Happy Christmas!"
And the employee walked away, head bowed, clutching his final pay in his hand and putting on a brave front. He wondered how he'll tell his family that he got laid off and it's Christmas!
This is the reality that's happening in the world today, and Dubai is not immune to it. Over the past 3 weeks, an estimate of 50 thousand expatriates has been made redundant in both multinational and local companies. With the real estate market down, companies who banked heavily in the real estate boom are the first one affected. Developers have stopped most of their projects, 6 thousands laborers were sent back to their home countries because construction has stopped, real estate companies downsized their staff because no one is buying, banks are in the dumps with their money supply and profits dwindling, and the layman withdraws his savings just in case!
It makes you pause if you think all of this is happening and it's happening so fast! The UAE government is trying it's hardest not to cause panic in the market,but it's inevitable with the current state of things. Just yesterday, 25 people in our office, including me, withdrew their money and savings from their atm and savings accounts because of talks of a lot of bank branches closing and putting limits in withdrawals.Our office boy was in HSBC to withdraw money and he was number 2704 in the line! It's kinda alarming that things are happening at this rate!
And it's Christmas! I'm just glad to be going home for a 3 weeks respite amidst all this.^_^
Employer:"Due to the current economic situation, I'm afraid this is the decision of the management. I'm sorry. Happy Christmas!"
And the employee walked away, head bowed, clutching his final pay in his hand and putting on a brave front. He wondered how he'll tell his family that he got laid off and it's Christmas!
This is the reality that's happening in the world today, and Dubai is not immune to it. Over the past 3 weeks, an estimate of 50 thousand expatriates has been made redundant in both multinational and local companies. With the real estate market down, companies who banked heavily in the real estate boom are the first one affected. Developers have stopped most of their projects, 6 thousands laborers were sent back to their home countries because construction has stopped, real estate companies downsized their staff because no one is buying, banks are in the dumps with their money supply and profits dwindling, and the layman withdraws his savings just in case!
It makes you pause if you think all of this is happening and it's happening so fast! The UAE government is trying it's hardest not to cause panic in the market,but it's inevitable with the current state of things. Just yesterday, 25 people in our office, including me, withdrew their money and savings from their atm and savings accounts because of talks of a lot of bank branches closing and putting limits in withdrawals.Our office boy was in HSBC to withdraw money and he was number 2704 in the line! It's kinda alarming that things are happening at this rate!
And it's Christmas! I'm just glad to be going home for a 3 weeks respite amidst all this.^_^