Dubai jobseekers warned of risks

MANILA, Philippines – Job seekers should be wary of offers to work in Dubai in light of the financial crisis besetting the Middle Eastern emirate, according to Susan “Toots” Ople, a former labor undersecretary.

Ople, president of the Blas F. Ople Policy Center which supports overseas Filipino workers, noted that jobs may become scarce in Dubai since foreign investors are in a wait-and-see mode when it comes to the area. Thus, offers of job openings there may be questionable.

Dubai, which conjures up images of opulence and wealth, is now experiencing a financial crisis and has sought a six-month moratorium on debt repayment.

“We’re calling on job seekers to avoid Dubai if they are offered jobs there, especially as tourist workers,” Ople said at the Kapihan sa Sulo forum.

She also said families of overseas Filipino workers in Dubai should be sensitive to the difficulties that their loved ones overseas are facing because of the crisis.

She said some wives may be expecting their husbands abroad to send home more money for the holidays, but the overseas workers may not be earning much now.

Because of the financial crisis in Dubai, many Filipino workers there are becoming worried over the security of their jobs, according to OFW groups in the area.

Migrante-United Arab Emirates earlier noted that multi and transnational companies have begun imposing salary reduction schemes in order to bring down operational costs. Workers have to agree to it because the other option is to be out of a job, it said.
The Blas F. Ople Policy Center has also reminded the government that it needs to be prepared to help its countrymen should the crisis in Dubai worsen. It said 250,000 Filipinos could be out of jobs if the situation does not improve. –Leila Salaverria, Philippine Daily Inquirer