Nakheel has embarked on a fresh round of job cuts as the Palm islands developer seeks to reduce costs and nears a deal with hundreds of creditors after a cash injection of US$8 billion (Dh29.38bn).
Just over 1,000 employees now work for the Dubai World-owned property developer after a series of redundancies that began at the end of 2008, a senior official said.
At least 50 people across all functions of the company have been laid off in recent weeks, bringing the company's total workforce down to less than a third of its 2008 peak, he said.
"There were about 3,800 staff in 2008 and now there are just over 1,000. Some of the recent jobs were lost in human resources, others in IT or commercial," said the official who asked not to be identified.
Nakheel is restructuring about $10.5bn in debt and has offered a deal to trade creditors that could mean a five-year wait for payment.
The Dubai Government said in March it would inject about $8bn into Nakheel. The developer's owner, Dubai World, is seeking to restructure about $23.5bn in debt.
Nakheel confirmed the job losses but declined to give a precise figure.
"As part of the restructuring process, Nakheel will continue to readjust its current business objectives to accommodate current market conditions," the company said.
"In doing so, the company also evaluates resource restructuring to ensure efficiency and optimisation of skill and talent."
Nakheel was among the first Dubai developers to shed jobs as it sought to reduce costs when the onset of the global financial crisis gripped the property market towards the end of 2008, causing prices to fall by almost half in some cases and projects to stall due to a lack of liquidity.
Nakheel has also scaled back compensation packages as it seeks to reduce redundancy costs.
The initial round of cuts involved the loss of 500 jobs, while a further 400 people were made redundant in June last year.
At the time, staff were given paid notice periods of either two or three months along with other benefits such as relocation costs, or allowing them to retain their medical insurance coverage.
"Gratuity payments made up the rest of it, which is why my package worked out to about six months' pay in the end," said a former director at the company who was made redundant last June.
"They would keep your visa open until the end of the notice period and would pay your relocation costs if you left the country."
Another senior member of staff, who spoke on condition of anonymity and who recently received a termination letter, said these terms had been withdrawn in the latest round of cuts.
"That's all gone. There was just one paragraph in the letter saying 'your contract has been terminated, your last working day is X' - nothing else.
"It didn't even give a reason for terminating. Even when we asked about end-of-service payments they said, 'Come back a day or two before you leave'. In the past, there were at least three pages that talked about benefits and compensation."
Nakheel declined to respond to questions about compensation packages.
Thousands of jobs have been cut across the property and construction sectors since the start of the downturn, although few companies are now compensating staff, according to Simon Hobart, the managing director of the recruitment company Millennium Solutions.
"Certainly people being let go now are generally not getting anything," Mr Hobart said.
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At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
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How much sugar is in chocolate Easter eggs?
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- The 190g Maltesers Teasers egg contains 58g of sugar per 100g for the egg and 19.6g of sugar in each of the two Teasers bars that come with it
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The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
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