Job cuts likely at UAE's largest private sector employer

The chief operating officer of Al Jaber Group, the UAE’s largest private sector employer, has said government intervention is essential to help limit the country’s exposure to the global financial crisis.

Speaking on the sidelines of Sunday night’s 2008 Arabian Business Awards, where she was named Businesswoman of the Year, Fatima Obaid Al Jaber said it was beyond the capacity of the private sector to absorb the impact of the economic crash.

“Look, now it is a government role. We as a private sector, we can’t really handle this. It’s far too big and beyond our capabilities."

The threat to the construction industry, which has been heavily affected by the financial slump, underpins the stability of the economy, Al Jaber said, adding that federal support would help to calm the markets.

“If you are on the wheel of construction, you’re on the wheel of a lot of things. You need to keep it going. We need to support our industries,” she added.

As a largely construction-based firm, the Abu Dhabi-based Al Jaber Group, which employs 50,000 people, has said it is taking measures to safeguard its assets, estimated at $2.7 billion.

However, Al Jaber revealed the Group is likely to favour job cuts as a means to absorb damage from the credit crisis, although the scale of the cutback is not yet known.

“The biggest risk is really in the construction business...it depends on how many contracts we have, we have different companies and they have different contracts and focuses. There will definitely be some job cuts.”

While the credit crash has curtailed the phenomenal growth rate of the Gulf’s construction industry, Al Jaber believes there are lessons to be learnt from current challenges.

She said: “It has been really tough for everybody with the economy, but we have to live it all. No one is immune and no one can tell you the future of this crisis. But it’s a time where everybody needs to learn a lot of lessons from this experience.

“We lost a bit of our cautiousness in the speed gallop we were in. I think now it is about time we sit down, look and plan carefully.”

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