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UAE gov't mulls plan to help redundancy victims
by This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it on Wednesday, 7 January 2009Posted on Thursday, 8 January 2009
High time to change
Posted by FB at 03:16 UAE time
Good move by the Govt to save the expats losing jobs and also the economy being affected. UAE and GCC countries has long been very unstable destination for employees when it comes to job security as you have to leave anytime. This doesnt bring in the best expats to UAE.
I have some suggestions I hope will be benefit for all expats and the UAE Govt. in general;
Allow expats to work part time or multiple jobs. This will help them to sustain themselves for paying rents, fees if losing jobs or keeping up with the high cost of living.
Let sponsorhip system be abolished, as for me it looks like modern slavery the way companies treat thier employees. Even big companies of UAE keep passports of employees. Let Govt issue the visa. Passport should not be held by the employers and this is ridiculous.
Allow small business from home, flexible start up's without sponsorship conditons.
Allow parents to sponsor thier children who are above 18 year old. This is the youthful generation and has lots of ideas. They also bring in lots of creative culture which UAE desperately lacks other than the whole buying of musuems! which is ridiculous. Tourism is not only about come and do shopping or the fake crowds at the pop shows ( all high paid expats, dont know anything about the music or what the show is all about )
Also, lets be fair on the Govt. if the above flexibility is offered by the Govt. they can easily justify some sort of tax on personnel income. They can spare corporate tax for bringing in business. I know this can be controversial but come on, it should be win win situation for both expats and Govt. to look after health, education, benefits and create more reserves for development.
Spare a small part of desert for affordable housing for the middle class.
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Think About It
Posted by Rainigade at 15:49 UAE time
Yes yes... its all very laudable, commendable, etc etc.
But think about it? Who is gonna fill up all those luxury apartments coming up at the moment (I'm not talking about off-plan, not yet dug projects)?
Remember that the number of vacant and READY apartments are being staggered onto the market so as to keep rents steady. This is exactly why RERA are publishing a minimum too.
If the expats (skilled of course) are gone - what happens to the already shaky real estate sector of Dubai?
It's all about the money after all, indeed! Not that I'm complaining of course. Otherwise, Mounir would remind me of the airports, as Paul says.
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Nationalization
Posted by Ali at 13:12 UAE time
Even if we locals storm into the private sector we wouldn't fill quarter the available positions.
It is not the feasibility of the Nationalization program, but the total number of locals. After all, the total population of UAE nationals make 8.9million.
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Ha!
Posted by Doug at 12:47 UAE time
Don't you believe it. Even if they did introduce it, they'll only do it for expats who hold ID cards or something similarly ludicrous.
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SKEPTICAL
Posted by Roche at 11:50 UAE time
i hate to sound negative,
however having faced numerous profit motivated policies by the UAE government in recent years, i cant hold myself in suspecting another real reasons/motives behind this.
I would also like to attract the attention of all gentlemen to this article who where directing us (people who raise concerned on Dubai's stand on various issues) to the departure gates at various UAE airports. HEY...!! UAE GOVERNMENT SEEMS NOT TO AGREE WITH YOU. they need Expats to stay here more than ever.
However, i appreciate the efforts by UAE government for discussing such posibilities which in someways will be a relife to the expat work force here.
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if you don't like it
Posted by paul at 11:37 UAE time
I have noticed a distinct reduction in the number of posts that say "If you don't like it, leave". It does seem suddenly that all of a sudden the country is worried about the effect on its economy of a mass exodus of expats. I wonder how long before I start reading "If you don't like it, please stay and we promise to try to fix it"
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Expat families who bought freehold properties & have strong faith in UAE market
Posted by Ramesh at 10:20 UAE time
There are many cases of expats families who still have full strong faith in the UAE market & have bought freehold properties in the UAE recently and have become small investors and also run small businesses like the wife handling the business and husband working in a company.And the two of them juggle and handle the daily routines of their jobs, their own private business and the taking care of children. Everything is fine till today and then suddenly from somewhere the financial crisis starts, the husband resigns his job because he is working on low basic salary and very high commission which is only good when there is a boom in real estate and all other activities of businesses. The husband needs time to find another job, and as per the law of UAE , he cant stay more than one month after the cancellation of the visa, and its not easy for the wife now to handle the business and the children alone and the personal ties they have to this country as they have stayed for more than 8 or 15 years. We all families would request the government to change the law on the six month ban to avoid the situation where experienced skilled expats locally in the UAE who know the UAE inside out will be forced to leave the country as they will be left with no options at all because of the strict laws in the UAE. Therefore the government must take necessary steps before its too late , like for example in genuine family cases all documents can be taken checked verified and then time must be given to these families to organise themselves. Believe us totally that the time of one month or two months is not at all enough to handle all the commitments we have after we get a six month ban and will be forced to leave the country.
These categories of families which I have highlighted over here still have and had strong faith in the UAE and have invested their money in freehold properties both to stay and to make money on them. The authorities can check the sale purchase documents and booking receipts of the freehold properties with them and then issue special permit and remove the six month ban on them, atleast till the market returns to normal.
They have to pay for the following, fees for their school going children, paying rents to landlords for their flats and villas, paying money for their cars installments, paying for the freehold apartments, paying to run the business they own etc to name a few. Its not at all easy in these bad times if one of the partners cannot stay in the UAE because of the six month ban. Husband and wife need to be together to handle this very difficult situation or else both of them with children will be forced to pack up and go with very bad memories during these hard times.
Kindly release the orders before time runs out and its too late, plenty of genuine qualified skilled expats are left with no options because of the strict visa rules during these hard times.
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Difficult times.
Posted by Cleo at 10:05 UAE time
A great move in terms of being considerate to the existing expat workforce, and true to the tolerant and pragmatic spirit of Dubai . And yes , as Hank and John Doe see it , a small stroke to the expat ego .
I have no doubt that in due time, the UAE will persevere with its plans to pressure the private sector to increase its reliance on UAE nationals, but my gut feel is this will be done gradually and in a manner that is not disruptive to businesses already on shaky ground because of the global recession.
This is a time for desperate measures and damage control , not political correctness. Kudos to the UAE for doing the right things at the right time.
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Good move!!
Posted by SR at 06:59 UAE time
This is a really good move, and would help lots of expats made redundant. Though, it is highly unlikely that anybody would be able to find alternative employment in the current context, at least they would be able to finalise personal matters such as finishing up school terms of their kids, disposing personal belongings etc, which does take more than 1 month. Further, in families where there is more that one bread-winner; they can continue to live here a little longer which gives a better chance of securing their future.
This in a way is a good wake-up call to all expats in the Gulf, to realise how frail the life here is!!
Although some guys who commented on this forum in recent past were quick to remind all expats about the five or six airports in UAE; I don't think UAE government promotes that attitude.
Finally, this also strengthens the argument that some of us were trying to drive through: UAE needs expats to support its long term growth!
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Posted on Wednesday, 7 January 2009
Very right
Posted by John Doe at 23:45 UAE time
Mr Hank couldn't have said it better in a polite way :), I have to agree with him.
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I believe this will happen
Posted by Mohd Tariq at 22:02 UAE time
We are awaiting ...............
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why redundant
Posted by Akil at 21:22 UAE time
It's definitely a great idea. But the actual reason is total market failure, every company is getting rid of liabilities and not assets. And tell me who is hiring in today?
Are the people coming out here ready for reduced salary and perks ??????? If yes, than certainly they may replace an expensive one otherwise one month is not enough they have to wait for another boom
People have to understand why they are redundant today...
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Plans to help redundency Victims
Posted by Ramuj at 18:21 UAE time
Laudable humanitarian gesture. Will bring relief to thousands of families who now live in uncertainity.
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pressure
Posted by paul at 17:12 UAE time
It seems the UAE would face quite a sudden exodus of people if the old policies were continued. Few would find new jobs within one month, and the pressure of people leaving would further deepen the economic problems in the country.
But unless those people can find jobs in a reasonable period of time, it will only delay the inevitable. With rents and costs as they are in Dubai, few expats will have the luxury of staying 2 or 3 months to find a new job.
The other issue I wonder about as an employer - if I was asked/forced not to cancel an employees visa, what about the deposit paid by the employer? And is the employer still on the line to lose this if the employee goes AWOL? If I get rid of someone, I don't want to continue to carry responsibility for them.
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too funny
Posted by hank at 16:14 UAE time
How funny.. Bravo UAE Govt for making it pretty clear that your nationalization project is not feasible. Rather than taking the opportunity to start putting your own nationals into these companies, you have opted to make the expats stay longer to find work. Effectively, you've just conceded to the long debate about using more national resources in international companies and said 'Expats are the better professionals'. took a while, now you're also just expanded every expats ego even further. Well done.
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