Job losses in real estate continue in Dubai

Dubai: Al Shafar General Contracting, a Dubai-based construction company on Wednesday said it will cut between 500 and 1,000 construction site and office jobs as new projects become harder to get.

The company's chief executive officer Bishoy Azmi told Gulf News most of the job losses involve staff still under probation.

He said the company had hired them expecting "aggressive expansion" but construction has slowed down. The company employs about 15,000 people and has Dh6 billion worth of projects under way.

"We can manage ongoing work without adding new staff. The amount of new projects has significantly reduced," Azmi said.

The planned layoffs will be carried out in the next two months, he said.

The local property sector is continuing to shed jobs as project flow slows due to tough economic conditions.

Top developers such as Nakheel, Damac and Omniyat have announced hundreds of job cuts in recent weeks, and industry sources say new recruitments are down sharply.

The real estate sector slowdown has had a direct impact on related sectors such as property services firms and building material suppliers.

"The market is quiet," said Sameh Hassan, chief executive officer of Madar Holding, a supplier of steel and timber to construction firms. He said the downturn began in summer and described August and Sep-tember as the "worst months".

Although the company has seen some recovery in sales since October, Hassan believes things will only become clear next year.

"Not many projects are coming up. It will become clearer next year whether they have been cancelled or only postponed."