Stuck in a moment

Ferdinand Albay
Davo, Philippines
Age: 29
Arrived July 2008

“I was on a basic salary of Dhs630 a month as a motorbike salesman in the Philippines but all of a sudden the company started paying me on a commission basis only. This meant I was no longer entitled to my benefits and health insurance. Because fewer people were buying bikes I was earning less and less. Eventually I would have been laid off. I was being taxed 30 per cent and found it continually harder to save, support my family or plan for children. Job competition was so intense that I couldn't easily pursue a higher or more secure wage elsewhere.

I moved to the UAE in July 2008 on a tourist visa and it took me three months to find work. I eventually found employment as a trainee draftsman earning Dhs3500 a month. This job isn't secure either as a lot of construction projects have started stalling in Dubai. Lots of friends want a way out of the Philippines but I don't know how easy it will be for them here now – my wife has still yet to find work so Dubai might not solve people's worries.''

Before the financial crisis

The Philippines was one of the strongest economies in all of south east Asia in the 1950s but the nation went into recession following the disastrous reign of President Ferdinand Marcos (1965-1986). It recovered in the 1990s, only to be hit by the Asian Financial Crisis of 1997. Now nearly half of the 90 million population lives on or below the poverty line. 11 per cent have moved abroad in search of a brighter future.

For those remaining, President Gloria Arroyo promises to make the Philippines a developed country by 2020. Goldman Sachs shares enthusiasm by placing the country in their Next Eleven, a list that details nations outside BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) that could become the world's largest economy this century.

...and now

The Philippine Daily Inquirer published a poll by the Makati Business Club suggesting that in 2009..

87% of businessmen believed the economy would hit recession
60% said their company's workforce would ‘contract.'
76% agreed it would be harder to take a loan.

The Overseas Employment Administration boasts half a million new jobs abroad in 2009.

That's stark consolation to the other 2million still out of work. Channel News Asia reported that one tenth of the country's economy, usually dependent upon remittances from workers abroad, will be hit by mass retrenchments overseas. Filipinos sent home Dhs53bn in 2008. It's unlikely to be matched in 2009.

Nick Harling
London, Great Britain
Age: 45
Arrived November 2008

“I've been working in Switzerland for the past six years in the financial sector. I was at a crossroads in my career when I realised my company wouldn't break their pay structure. There were also rumours of them culling 4000 jobs worldwide. Dubai appeared by chance and I jumped at the opportunity to move as a powerbroker. I'm only earning 10 per cent more now, but getting higher up the payscale in a shorter space of time is more achievable here despite the global situation. And then there's the tax free element. My family and I aren't opposed to one day moving back to England, it's just we didn't even bother looking for work there now. I can always go home if I wanted, it's just finding work in Switzerland or England will prove hard at the moment, as it would anywhere. From what I've read Dubai should weather the storm well and in that respect this is a brighter future. However every salesman is only worth what he brings into the company. There's a recruitment freeze at the moment and no one can afford to get complacent.''

Before the financial crisis

Dubbed the ‘sick man of Europe' back in the 1970s, Britain struggled after World War II, despite some economic highs in the 1950s-60s. Teething problems continued with social unrest and tripled levels of unemployment thanks to Margaret Thatcher. Critics say she eventually put an end to economic stagnancy at a huge cost to the British population, cutting back on state interference, privatising nationally-owned enterprises and selling public housing back to its tenants. 28 per cent of British children lived below the poverty line by the end of her premiership but however hardline her approach, it did revive the economy. There was a boom in the 1980s and since 1992 the economy grew every quarter to become Europe's second largest

...and now

Quite sensibly Gordon Brown is ruling out a general election in early 2009. With things set to get grim around February and March, he'll be fairly unpopular. 1984's unemployment record will be smashed with...

3.5mout of work by 2010 according to The Daily Mail.
1947 was the last time the economy shrank 2.5 per cent.
0.6 % will be the only economic growth by 2010.

Things are predicted to get back on track by 2011 with growth rates hitting 3.5 per cent by which time the British taxpayer will have a £9bn Olympic Games to pay for in 2012.


Ziyaad Khoja
Toronto, Canada
Age: 26
Arrived October 2008

“The company I worked for in Canada dealt in conference management. Most of our clientele were American or European. We planned for massive growth in every sector but the sales didn't happen. We basically grew too fast and didn't take into account the downturn. There were lay-offs but I kept my position. It got mundane and with fewer sales there was less to do. There was a chance that I would have to play a smaller role, so I moved to Dubai. An IT assistant in Canada would typically earn Dhs10-12,000 per month before tax of 20 per cent, but I reworked my CV and was able to land a managerial role here within two weeks which takes me into a pay bracket of Dhs15-18,000 per month. I could go back to Canada tomorrow but for the meantime it makes sense
for me to stay here – that's got as much to do with the market as it has to do with my own personal development. I guess subconsciously I am an economic migrant, because there was no scope for growth, like there is here, at home. I just hope Dubai comes through it all relatively unscathed because I'm happy here.''

Before the financial crisis

Canada struck a good balance between using America for all it was worth and still maintaining independence. Economic integration increased drastically after World War II, but consequent governments seemed eager to pull control and self sufficiency back into Canada's hands. Pierre Trudeau's National Energy Programme was one such example followed by Brian Mulroney's refocus on foreign investment and free trade. Somewhere middle ground was met and Canada became one of the world's richest nations, eclipsing Europe but still shadowed by the States.

Canada's total government debt burden was the lowest in the G8 and the country has been consistently ranked top of the G8 class for its economic performance since 2001. At 5.9 per cent, unemployment was at its lowest for 33 years by the end of 2007.

...and now

19.5% is the amount the debt to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) ratio will decline by in 2009 according to the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD). It's less than half the projected average (51.9%)for G8 countries

7.5% Is the amount unemployment is expected to rise by

3%Is the amount the GDP will shrink by in 2009, with the Bank of Montreal expecting this to hit the economy, which will decline by 1.3 per cent


Liam Nelson
San Francisco, United States
Age: 32
Arrived April 2008

“Both my wife and I were made made redundant in the last 12 months. A chance for her to continue her work in environmental design came up so we moved to Dubai. We weren't forced to leave, moving here was a choice. In many ways it's a compromise. For my wife's career trajectory, moving here was the right choice, because environmental design is a niche sector and she'll be working on some immense projects in Dubai. It dwarfs what she was working on in San Francisco. I'm working as a freelance journalist and if the right full-time opportunity comes along I'll take it.
We are working to get over start up costs – if there were cut backs in construction now we'd have a problem. Not that it is in our immediate plans – but it would be unwise for us to go back home until one of us secures a full-time position that will work long term and obviously with things as they stand, the US is too much of a gamble at the moment. It's fair to say the whole situation is putting our lives on hold as we won't have children until we go home and we can't go home until things brighten up and stabilise."

Before the financial crisis

The USA's worst recession in recent decades, for redundancies at least, was during the early 1980s. It was coined ‘stagflation' because there was high inflation and high levels of unemployment making the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) drop. During Ronald Reagan's Presidency (1981-1989), he installed ‘Reaganomics.'

The art of reducing government expenditure (mainly through not going to war), reducing tax, pulling back the government's regulation of the economy and controlling money supply to reduce inflation, set the USA back on its ‘superpower' track. Interest rates, inflation and unemployment fell faster during Reagan's reign than any other period before or after. The 1990s saw a 69 per cent growth in GDP and the stock market grew three fold. The USA continued to contribute over a quarter of the world's economy and had the world's largest national GDP, only four per cent behind the EU in 2007.

...and now

33/50 States are in recession according to Moody's Economy.com
22% of the nation's metropolitan areas are experiencing job growth – the smallest percentage since 1975. Meanwhile unemployment rates will hit nine per cent
6% is the amount the GDP will shrink by in 2009. Obama has promised a $800bn bailout, and hopes to create three million jobs in just two years.


Andries Van Der Merwe
Durban, South Africa
Age: 25
Arrived September 2008

“I was a project engineer in the construction industry in South Africa, which is actually in the middle of a construction boom as a result of the 2010 World Cup. Leaving home was prompted by a host of reasons, not least South Africa's uncertain political situation at the moment. I was on a very poor salary there and was taxed 42 per cent of my earnings, the high crime-rate at home was depressing, job possibilities were made slim by policies to promote more black South Africans. In the UAE, I knew I could walk into a role that would have needed three to four years of experience
for in South Africa. This will ultimately improve my job prospects should I ever go back. I can't see myself going home for a while now though. The World Cup won't solve the situation at home because after the three week competition what's going to happen to all the empty stadiums and jobless tournament staff? It will just be another slowdown. Lots of friends want to follow me here but I moved at the right time and can no longer help them because Dubai is experiencing a bit of a slowdown itself and many of the projects are stalling. I've told them to hang on for a few months."

Before the financial crisis

South Africa's still hungover from the Apartheid, when a white South African government split the country on racial terms in order to allow the separate groups to progress within their own land.

This disadvantaged the black majority. The indifference was corrected after F.W de Klerk acknowledged the system was no longer economically sustainable, especially given crippling world sanctions. Now the government is left with a largely unskilled black workforce, due to their earlier denial of education. A vacuum of skilled white workers are leaving in part due the country having the world's sixth highest crime rate. This has caused a brain drain. Despite this, there have been signs of positivity since 1999 with annual GDP consistently growing over two per cent each year.
However in order to meet goals of halving unemployment (26.5 per cent) South Africa must grow by four per cent every year till 2010, then six per cent thereafter.

...and now

3% will be the rate the GDP slows down to in 2009; the lowest mark in ten years, says Moneyweb.com
8%is the rate at which mining productivity will fall, by far one of the country's biggest industries
26, 000 were sacked in the last few months of 2008. But that number is expected to hit ‘many tens of thousands' more this year.