Job losses on the rise in the UAE

Job losses in the banking and financial sector are driving a sharp increase in number of redundancies in the UAE. More than half of respondents to a recent survey say that either a close friend or relative has lost their job in the last 3 months.

Reality has hit home in the GCC financial sector since the beginning of the year, with the likes of Dubai World, Istithmar World, and Mashreq trimming staff in 2009, which follows on from redundancies at Shuaa Capital, Morgan Stanley, Jeffries and Goldman Sachs towards the tail end of 2008.

The latest findings by research firm YouGov, which polled UAE residents between 20-29 January, found that 55% knew someone affected by redundancy and that the brunt of the losses were in banking and financial services.

Nearly 75% of respondents also said that they were not expecting a pay increase this year.