Views of Dubai

Nakheel one of the leading master property developer in Dubai announced today Sunday November 30,2008 that it was scaling back work on some of its projects and that it has adjusted it staffing requirements accordingly to accommodate the current easing market conditions,” a Nakheel statement said.

According to the latest news from Gulfnews, Nakheel’s spokesperson described the decision as a responsible action in light of the current global market conditions.

“We have the responsibility to adjust our short term business plans to accommodate the current global environment. The redundancies are indeed regrettable, but a necessity dictated by operational requirements which are in turn dependent on demand,” added the spokesperson.

This is the second biggest confirmed job cut in the UAE so far, and comes after two developers, Damac and Omniyat confirmed a total of 269 – 200 by Damac and 69 by Omniyat.

All the affected employees were provided a redundancy package, which includes outplacement support services to assist in this time of transition.

All other major developers have earlier said they are revising headcount downwards, as business activities in Dubai’s real estate has come close to a near halt.

Analysts say this is the beginning of a massive job cut across the real estate market.

“This is not the end, but the beginning and we do not know when it will end,” said property analyst Sudhir Kumar, managing director of Realtors’ International.

“In a situation like this, when lack of funds cut short economic activities, companies have to tighten their belts.

“We anticipate others will follow suit in announcing more job cuts.”