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25,000 Indian workers face lay off in Gulf
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25,000 Indian workers face lay off in Gulf
Dubai/Nicosia: At least 20,000 Indian construction workers are being flown out of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) by their employers on bulk-booked flights on Indian airlines next March, according to report in Emirates Business.
This is due to the fact that more than half the construction projects in the UAE, which were estimated at $1.28 trillion, had been put on hold as a result of the global financial crisis.
The Indian workers are either being sent back home on long leave, or are being redeployed to work on projects in other Gulf countries, such as Qatar and Abu Dhabi.
Venu Rajamony, India`s Consul-General in Dubai, said the mission is concerned with the recent developments and they are watching the situation very closely.
Rajamony said that airlines are getting bulk bookings over the January-March period, "We expect that about 25,000 people will be going to India. But we don`t yet know whether they are going on leave and will come back and on what terms."
The number of recruitments of Indian workers has fallen drastically in recent months. "From around 3,500 in January-February of 2008 it has come down to around 250-300 people this year," he said.
It should be noted that Indians form the largest number of foreign labour force in the UAE accounting for 42.5 percent of the total number of workers in the country, according to a study carried out by the Agency for Developing Human Resources and Recruiting UAE Nationals (Tanmia).
The study found that 75 percent of the expatriate labour force in the UAE comes from Asian countries and a majority of them is from India.
Commenting on recent reports about 25,000-30,000 work visa cancellations in Dubai, Rajamony said that the figure was normal and did not constitute evidence of mass termination of work. He added that the emigration authorities had recently issued 13,000 new visas and that the UAE Ministry of Labour had warned companies to strictly follow the labour laws and settle all claims before sending workers back home.
Source:
http://news.in.msn.com/international/article.aspx?cp-documentid=1814172
This is due to the fact that more than half the construction projects in the UAE, which were estimated at $1.28 trillion, had been put on hold as a result of the global financial crisis.
The Indian workers are either being sent back home on long leave, or are being redeployed to work on projects in other Gulf countries, such as Qatar and Abu Dhabi.
Venu Rajamony, India`s Consul-General in Dubai, said the mission is concerned with the recent developments and they are watching the situation very closely.
Rajamony said that airlines are getting bulk bookings over the January-March period, "We expect that about 25,000 people will be going to India. But we don`t yet know whether they are going on leave and will come back and on what terms."
The number of recruitments of Indian workers has fallen drastically in recent months. "From around 3,500 in January-February of 2008 it has come down to around 250-300 people this year," he said.
It should be noted that Indians form the largest number of foreign labour force in the UAE accounting for 42.5 percent of the total number of workers in the country, according to a study carried out by the Agency for Developing Human Resources and Recruiting UAE Nationals (Tanmia).
The study found that 75 percent of the expatriate labour force in the UAE comes from Asian countries and a majority of them is from India.
Commenting on recent reports about 25,000-30,000 work visa cancellations in Dubai, Rajamony said that the figure was normal and did not constitute evidence of mass termination of work. He added that the emigration authorities had recently issued 13,000 new visas and that the UAE Ministry of Labour had warned companies to strictly follow the labour laws and settle all claims before sending workers back home.
Source:
http://news.in.msn.com/international/article.aspx?cp-documentid=1814172
