Unemployed Emiratis May See 100% Cut To Their Monthly Welfare Payments; UK Universities Boycott UAE, Rising Tolls & Closing Schools In Dubai

In what seems like a striking move in the UAE, the UAE Govt is going to cut the welfare payments for the most vulnerable Emiratis who are unemployed.

Idea is to push them all to go to work. 

This surely will have massive repercussions but UAE is running out of cash so they do not have much choice.

UAE nationals are brought up in a system which is defined as "cradle to grave" handouts by the state.

Emiratis get free housing, free medicare including around the world, free education, among other benefits like lower hours of work until a few years ago with high salaries (double and triple that of expats) and hefty bonuses.

Not to mention ever so often they would get a 100% hike in salaries in the public sector jobs which is pretty much 80-90% of all employment of Emiratis.

UAE and GCC is having an interesting conundrum. 

They do not want expats and are ejecting them while they don't have the cash to continue paying enormous salaries and benefits to the locals.

Let's hope these welfare cuts do not create turmoil.

Goodbye welfare state? Abu Dhabi cutting benefits for Emiratis who refuse work   

UAE tried to cut medical benefits in 2015 for Emiratis but it had to be reversed in 2016 due to Yemen backlash and was supported by rising oil prices.

However, oil prices are going down again and coffers are empty across GCC now.

Last week it came in Kuwait media that they cannot find locals who are refusing to even apply for jobs due to fear of working long hours.

Similarly, in Saudi there are rumors of cutting expat dependency fees, however, the Govt is denying it.

Even in Saudi, locals are refusing to apply for work for the most part.

Saudi Arabia 'reviewing' expat fees amid highest unemployment in a decade

Meanwhile, Saudi itself is running out of money and despite hiking water and electricity charges by 400% to 600%, starting hefty expat dependent fees and ejecting 2 million expats or more, they are now contemplating toll roads when their population as a whole is declining.

Saudi eyes road tolls from 2020

Kuwait plans to introduce higher fees for expats for health insurance plus make it compulsory for all tourists to have health insurance.

Nod to compulsory health insurance, fees for expats

Refer our previous post:

Airlines, Contractors, Banks, Supermarkets, Small Businesses, Many Are Collapsing Across GCC

While in Dubai, business after business is collapsing like banks, airlines, supermarkets and next is the turn of schools.

Now It Looks Like Dubai Has Too Many Private Schools

GEMS is one of the largest school owners in GCC and had major investors like Blackrock investing into their schools.

GEMS schools was managed through Abraaj who have collapsed and absconded, therefore, Blackrock is in trouble along with other major investors. 

It is unknown if any cash reserves were invested into other projects or funds of Abraaj which is highly likely causing a loss for GEMS as much as it did to all others including Air Arabia airlines, pension fund of Kuwait etc.

GEMS had planned an IPO this year to pay off loans to Abraaj and cash out.

Now the IPO has been shelved in July 2018 due to Abraaj turmoil, school fees have been frozen in Dubai by the Govt students are declining and investors want their money out but Abraaj collapse has frozen everything and created a lot of friction.

Private equity investors weigh exit from UAE school operator GEMS-sources

Several universities from UK have started a boycott of their Dubai campuses. although the British "spy" (according to UAE) was released but we don't know the current status of this boycott of most British universities based in the UAE that appeared on the BBC in late Nov.

But it's likely that these British academics do not wish to teach any students in the UAE any more for fear of repression as well as their own well being and safety.

This alone will hurt the education of thousands of students and bring to a halt over a dozen universities in the UAE if it is not resolved immediately.

But the speed at which foreigners including British are being arrested almost on a weekly basis and the fact that UK Govt has a travel alert on UAE, it does not seem this may get resolved so easily.

In addition, all UK and Australian newspapers published a major expose on Dubai that we will not put here but you may search online, including a 1 hour documentary on BBC TV last week.

Matthew Hedges: University staff's Dubai campus boycott

Just in 2018, 2 schools shut down and one closed after 30 years in Dubai.

Second school in Dubai set to close its doors to students

Today it has come out that 2 more schools in Dubai will merge because they cannot operate independently.

We have also found out that some schools in Dubai are offering 25% to 50% discount on their school fees which is probably happening for the first time in history anywhere on planet Earth.

This clearly shows the stress that all sorts of businesses are going through before they all collapse.

Anyone who is hopeful of a recovery in the next few years may need to get a dose of reality and look around them and ask themselves : 

When will their own business collapse and how many people they personally know who have lost their jobs or jailed or deported or have had their salaries reduced forcibly within GCC in the last 2-3 years?

We don't wish any of this on anybody but we are just pointing out the reality with facts in order for everyone to plan for their own future.

Two UK schools in Dubai to merge next year 

Years after we have suggested that things will collapse, some "highly educated, over paid, bright minds" now are suggesting the same when it is crystal clear that GCC economies simply cannot sustain the oncoming "perfect storm".


Dubai education providers at 'tipping point' with increase in schools

In such a grim scenario, jobs are hard to find and even those with jobs cannot survive because some new fees or fines are being hiked or introduced on a daily or weekly basis while the cost of living has climbed to one of the most expensive in the world from being one of the cheapest just a decade ago.

While, no matter what the business, it will have difficulty to survive except for people who have over USD 5-10m in cash in their account and wish to keep losing it until their saving of USD 5-10m drops and drops lower, every passing year.

Anyone with less than USD 5m in the GCC may God bless them all.