200 jobs axed at property firm Damac

A total of 200 employees have lost their jobs at Dubai-based Damac Group, the property company confirmed on Monday.

The company announced that it has undertaken a review of global staffing levels in response to the continuing global slowdown.

The organisation with interests in properties, securities, food and investments said it was cutting 2.5 percent of its global workforce of 8,000.

On Friday, Arabian Business revealed that jobs had been lost at Damac but company chiefs declined to confirm the number.

The company said it will implement redundancies focused in those areas that have been directly affected by the contracting market including sales and marketing, recruitment and back office support functions.

Damac Properties CEO Peter Riddoch said the tough decision had been inevitable in the light of the severe slowdown in the worldwide property market.

"We regret that we have to lose colleagues but we believe that taking an early decision was the right thing to do," he said.

"The company must remain competitive in order to deliver on its commitments to customers and to safeguard the long term future of the business and the employees worldwide.

"This continuing global slowdown will inevitably lead all companies to review their staffing levels and recruitment requirements and as a competitive business the Damac Group has to ensure that it maintains its staffing levels according to market conditions – both good and bad."

Damac Properties says it will deliver 2,300 units to customers by the end of 2008 with a further 7,100 planned for handover in 2009/10.

Riddoch added: "I have little doubt that the UAE is still better placed than many other nations to deal with the challenges ahead in the global market. However as an international developer, we cannot expect to be unaffected by the downturn in countries like the UK.

"We have taken a worldwide view of our business and adjusted our plans in line with this. We believe this is the right thing to do in view of the current climate and that this will better enable the business to move forward."

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