Goodbye Dubai, hello Abu-Dhabi

15 December 2008

2 minute read

A banking job in Dubai, it seems, is no longer as secure as it once was, and with more redundancies predicted in the coming year, expat workers are looking to Abu-Dhabi for new opportunities.

The Dubai financial sector can no longer be viewed as a sanctuary for Western bankers. The likes of Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley are already trimming their Dubai teams, and mid-market investment bank Jefferies is closing its office in the Emirate,

Mahdi Mattar, chief economist at Shuaa Capital, says: "Dubai will be worst hit out of all the emirates in terms of job cuts, because it relies heavily on banking and real estate industries."

For expats reliant on employers for visa sponsorship, Dubai is not the greatest place to lose a job. Those who are let go have only one month to find another position before they are obliged to leave the country.

"Unless they are able to find a new sponsor quickly, they will have to leave and with that they are taking their demand and consumption, so the ripple-out is more serious in the economy," Simon Williams, chief Middle East economist at HSBC Holdings told Zawya Dow Jones.

With new banking opportunities increasingly thin on the ground in Dubai, foreign workers are viewing Abu-Dhabi with a more eager eye.

Unlike Dubai, Abu Dhabi is believed to be relatively sheltered from the credit crunch. It has massive oil reserves, and financial institutions there are still keen to recruit.

Richard Lett, head of banking at recruiters RP International, says: "Sovereign wealth funds in Abu-Dhabi, as well as investment banks, are keen to hear from Western bankers already in the region. We've noticed an upswing in interest from candidates."

Alex Cormack, director, head of Middle East at executive search firm Sheffield Haworth, agrees that bankers are more willing to explore Abu-Dhabi-based opportunities, but adds that Doha, Bahrain and, increasingly, Saudi Arabia are also attractive options for expats.

AUTHORPaul Clarke

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Loay Ragheb
19 February 2009
lifes trials and tribulations are nothing more than a mirage believed to be real by those who failed LR
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Sudhir
7 January 2009
The basics of having so many banks catering to the population of the UAE itself is a bit suprising. The obvious downturn in the real Estate Sector was inevitable. The thing to watch out though is how does the govrnment find the liquidity to cater to it ailing Real Estate Market and would there be more jobs created in the immediate future.
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krazzy_shah
5 January 2009
i feel the findings are some what logic.the global financil crisis had a major impact and insecurity.
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s mukherjee
31 December 2008
DUBAI is apparently guided by the LONG TERM CONSUMPTION /GROWTH/ DEVELOPMENT/INVESTMENTS. These solid macro economic vision coupled with well administererd open market , WILL SURELY EXCELL ECONOMY OF DUBAI TO THE HIGHEST MAGNITUDE. Nevethertheless the non realistic optimism of so- called expats,particularly ADVISING a few to swim in the BUBBLE WAVE , have created trouble for the shallow advised. Despair and gloom may better not to be GENERALISED.-rEGARDS -
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Deepak Malhotra
28 December 2008
Major economic powers predicted and were discussing the recession well in advance while in the UAE, there is absolutely no transparency whatsoever. The local press is the worse and persists in feeding us lies, the whole lies and nothing but lies. To seek the real truth and smell the suffocating stench emanating from the local economy, one has to read international newspapers. The UAE especially Dubai will be severely impacted because of the recession and credit crunch for two main valid reasons, Dubai is neither an industrial city nor has the precious petrodollars. It relies on its real estate sector which is rife with innumerable legal loopholes. Indeed, Dubai is like the Titanic that looks attractive from the outside but is so fragile from the inside, a real bubble. Time to pack and go NOW!!!
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