Infosys Technologies on Tuesday said it has instituted a Rs 50 lakh award each for five top Indian scientists in recognition of their outstanding research contributions and achievements.
The five awards will be given annually under the aegis of Infosys Science Foundation, a non-profit trust set up with a corpus of Rs 21.5 crore, the software major said in a statement here.
"The company will also annually grant Rs 2 crore to the trust to supplement the prize for each of five scientists of Indian origin working in the country or abroad. The award carries the largest prize money (Rs 5 million) to be given to any Indian scientist," the Infosys board member, T.V. Mohandas Pai, told reporters.
The five top scientists will be selected by a jury of five consisting of eminent international personalities and academic experts in each area.
The five Infosys awards will be given under the category of Physical Sciences in physics and chemistry, mathematical sciences in mathematics and statistics; engineering sciences in all branches of engineering; life sciences in biology and medicine; and social sciences and economics in economics, history, sociology and political science.
"India needs bright minds across all areas of academics, government, business and society to strive for global excellence. We need to encourage research in India to address our developmental problems. This award will honour outstanding researchers who will make a difference to India's future," the Infosys chairman and chief mentor, N.R. Narayana Murthy, said.
Friday, February 20, 2009
Are 1,000 employees of TCS under scanner?
Putting employees under performance scanner seems to be the new thing at IT companies. The country's largest software company TCS has reportedly put its 1,000 employees under performance scanner.
The Mumbai-based IT company joins its smaller rival Infosys which too has put around 5,000 of its employees under the so-called performance scanner.
Incidentally, TCS spokesperson denied that the company's performance improvement plan is any different this year than previous years. The spokesperson claimed that this is an annual exercise to ensure that we continue to drive delivery excellence for our customers. Less than 1% of our workforce has been put under the scanner in the current fiscal.
Last year, the company had asked 500 employees to leave after a similar performance improvement plan.
Recently, in a client note, brokerage CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets said that TCS has seen project cancellations in the last four weeks. Quoting TCS chief financial officer S Mahalingam, CLSA said that the company sees slowdown in demand bottoming out in the March quarter and expects a recovery in the June quarter.
In Infosys case, the company has asked senior managers (project managers, senior and group project managers, delivery managers) to give lowest performance rating (4 on a scale of 1-4) to the 'underperforming' 5 per cent as a part of its consolidated relative ranking (CRR). Though lowest rankings are not new in the company, this is the first time that Infosys has made it compulsory.
Some 40-50 sales executives at Infosys too have been reportedly asked to quit in the last two months. Most of these were located in the US and were from consulting background.
Indiatimes
The Mumbai-based IT company joins its smaller rival Infosys which too has put around 5,000 of its employees under the so-called performance scanner.
Incidentally, TCS spokesperson denied that the company's performance improvement plan is any different this year than previous years. The spokesperson claimed that this is an annual exercise to ensure that we continue to drive delivery excellence for our customers. Less than 1% of our workforce has been put under the scanner in the current fiscal.
Last year, the company had asked 500 employees to leave after a similar performance improvement plan.
Recently, in a client note, brokerage CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets said that TCS has seen project cancellations in the last four weeks. Quoting TCS chief financial officer S Mahalingam, CLSA said that the company sees slowdown in demand bottoming out in the March quarter and expects a recovery in the June quarter.
In Infosys case, the company has asked senior managers (project managers, senior and group project managers, delivery managers) to give lowest performance rating (4 on a scale of 1-4) to the 'underperforming' 5 per cent as a part of its consolidated relative ranking (CRR). Though lowest rankings are not new in the company, this is the first time that Infosys has made it compulsory.
Some 40-50 sales executives at Infosys too have been reportedly asked to quit in the last two months. Most of these were located in the US and were from consulting background.
Indiatimes
No impact on KPOs due to global downturn
Knowledge Processing Outsourcing (KPO), over which India's holds the sway with a potential $12 billion market by 2010, is expected to grow despite global recession and the country could maintain its leadership in the KPO sector with stable government policies.
"India has competitive people costs which is sustainable at least for the next seven to ten years. There is an established ITeS (Information Technology Enabled Services) sector with good management, plus a reasonable sized talent-pool of human expertise in many areas. All this coupled with fairly stable government policies could help India in its quest to maintain leadership in the KPO sector by a wide margin," Chandu Nair, President and Director of Scope e-Knowledge Center, a leading KPO company, said.
According to an earlier estimate of National Association of Software and Service companies (NASSCOM), the apex business association, the KPO sector is expected to be worth $17 bn by 2010 of which $12 bn would be outsourced to India.
“Despite the recession in the US and UK/Europe, Nasscom still feels that IT/BPO sector would grow in the FY 2008-09. There has been an impact on certain companies, especially those with clients predominantly in certain sectors -- financial services -or high exposure to clients which have gone bankrupt,” he said.
Seeking to differentiate KPO and BPO, Nair said BPO is essentially process or rules based while KPO is more expertise or judgment based. Asked about the competition, he said India's key competitors in the KPO domain are Russia, China, Ireland, Israel, Philippines among others. The competition for India could vary depending on the nature of work.
"For instance for certain kinds of foreign language oriented services, locations in Eastern Europe or South America are favoured. Russia and Israel have scientific talent pool to provide certain specialist KPO services. The major challenge for them as also for say, the Philippines, Ireland is that the talent pool is much smaller while for China and Russia, non-English speaking population is relatively small."
About the scenario five-ten years hence, he said the KPO sector has the potential to grow faster and bigger and create more jobs.
“There is certainly a challenge in terms of availability of certain skill sets and basic employability of fresh graduates which hits small and medium sized companies,” he said.
Nasscom has embarked on some initiatives with respect to improving the skills and is working closely with the government, he said.
Agencies
"India has competitive people costs which is sustainable at least for the next seven to ten years. There is an established ITeS (Information Technology Enabled Services) sector with good management, plus a reasonable sized talent-pool of human expertise in many areas. All this coupled with fairly stable government policies could help India in its quest to maintain leadership in the KPO sector by a wide margin," Chandu Nair, President and Director of Scope e-Knowledge Center, a leading KPO company, said.
According to an earlier estimate of National Association of Software and Service companies (NASSCOM), the apex business association, the KPO sector is expected to be worth $17 bn by 2010 of which $12 bn would be outsourced to India.
“Despite the recession in the US and UK/Europe, Nasscom still feels that IT/BPO sector would grow in the FY 2008-09. There has been an impact on certain companies, especially those with clients predominantly in certain sectors -- financial services -or high exposure to clients which have gone bankrupt,” he said.
Seeking to differentiate KPO and BPO, Nair said BPO is essentially process or rules based while KPO is more expertise or judgment based. Asked about the competition, he said India's key competitors in the KPO domain are Russia, China, Ireland, Israel, Philippines among others. The competition for India could vary depending on the nature of work.
"For instance for certain kinds of foreign language oriented services, locations in Eastern Europe or South America are favoured. Russia and Israel have scientific talent pool to provide certain specialist KPO services. The major challenge for them as also for say, the Philippines, Ireland is that the talent pool is much smaller while for China and Russia, non-English speaking population is relatively small."
About the scenario five-ten years hence, he said the KPO sector has the potential to grow faster and bigger and create more jobs.
“There is certainly a challenge in terms of availability of certain skill sets and basic employability of fresh graduates which hits small and medium sized companies,” he said.
Nasscom has embarked on some initiatives with respect to improving the skills and is working closely with the government, he said.
Agencies
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Oil near $35 amid grim US economic news
Oil prices rose slightly to above $35 a barrel on Thursday in Asia despite grim U.S. economic news that pointed to a deep recession and weaker crude demand.
Light, sweet crude for March delivery rose 54 cents to $35.18 a barrel by late afternoon in Singapore on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract on Wednesday fell 31 cents to settle at $34.62.
The March contract expires on Friday, and traders switched their focus to the April contract, which rose 62 cents to $38.03.
The Federal Reserve on Wednesday confirmed what many investors already suspected _ that the US economy has significantly deteriorated in the last few months.
The Fed said it expects the economy will contract between 0.5 and 1.3 per cent this year. Its previous forecast from November had a 0.2 per cent contraction as the worst case scenario.
The Fed also said the unemployment rate will likely rise to between 8.5 and 8.8 per cent this year, higher than its previous forecast of between 7.1 and 7.6 per cent.
The current global economic slump began in 2007 with a crisis in the US sub-prime mortgage sector, and the housing market continues to buckle under the weight of surging foreclosures.
A report from the Commerce Department on Wednesday said construction of new homes and apartments plunged 16.8 per cent in January from the previous month, to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 466,000 units, a record low.
``The housing data suggests the recession is even worse than we thought,'' said Christoffer Moltke-Leth, head of sales trading for Saxo Capital Markets in Singapore. ``We need to see the housing market stabilize because consumer sentiment is very much correlated to it.''
Investors are skeptical that a $787 billion stimulus bill signed this week by President Barack Obama will spark a quick recovery. The White House on Wednesday said the government will spend $75 billion to help prevent millions of Americans from losing their homes.
Crude investors are also concerned a jump in oil inventories is reflecting a steep drop-off in demand.
Analysts expect crude stocks will grow by 3.5 million barrels when the Energy Department releases inventory data for the week ended Feb. 13, according to a survey by Platts, the energy information arm of McGraw-Hill Cos. Inventories have risen more than 30 million barrels in the last six weeks.
``Inventories are the focus now,'' said Moltke-Leth. ``If they rise again, it will put more downward pressure on crude.''
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries has struggled to bolster prices as output cuts fail to keep up with falling demand.
Venezuelan Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez said Wednesday the group may cut production again at a meeting on March 15, on top of the reduction of 4.2 million barrels a day announced since September. Ramirez said the 13-member cartel would like prices to rise to $70 a barrel.
``OPEC is looking very weak right now,'' said Moltke-Leth said. ``There's a lot of chatter from them, but the market isn't really listening.''
Moltke-Leth said prices will likely fall to about $32 a barrel, which would test the 10-year average price.
``$32 and a half is a significant line in the sand,'' he said. ``It's a key support level, and I expect the market to test how strong it is.''
In other Nymex trading, gasoline futures rose 0.83 cent to $1.07 a gallon. Heating oil gained 1.71 cents to $1.16 a gallon, while natural gas for March delivery jumped 3.0 cents to $4.24 per 1,000 cubic feet.
In London, the March Brent contract rose 98 cents to $40.54 on the ICE Futures exchange.
Agencies
Light, sweet crude for March delivery rose 54 cents to $35.18 a barrel by late afternoon in Singapore on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract on Wednesday fell 31 cents to settle at $34.62.
The March contract expires on Friday, and traders switched their focus to the April contract, which rose 62 cents to $38.03.
The Federal Reserve on Wednesday confirmed what many investors already suspected _ that the US economy has significantly deteriorated in the last few months.
The Fed said it expects the economy will contract between 0.5 and 1.3 per cent this year. Its previous forecast from November had a 0.2 per cent contraction as the worst case scenario.
The Fed also said the unemployment rate will likely rise to between 8.5 and 8.8 per cent this year, higher than its previous forecast of between 7.1 and 7.6 per cent.
The current global economic slump began in 2007 with a crisis in the US sub-prime mortgage sector, and the housing market continues to buckle under the weight of surging foreclosures.
A report from the Commerce Department on Wednesday said construction of new homes and apartments plunged 16.8 per cent in January from the previous month, to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 466,000 units, a record low.
``The housing data suggests the recession is even worse than we thought,'' said Christoffer Moltke-Leth, head of sales trading for Saxo Capital Markets in Singapore. ``We need to see the housing market stabilize because consumer sentiment is very much correlated to it.''
Investors are skeptical that a $787 billion stimulus bill signed this week by President Barack Obama will spark a quick recovery. The White House on Wednesday said the government will spend $75 billion to help prevent millions of Americans from losing their homes.
Crude investors are also concerned a jump in oil inventories is reflecting a steep drop-off in demand.
Analysts expect crude stocks will grow by 3.5 million barrels when the Energy Department releases inventory data for the week ended Feb. 13, according to a survey by Platts, the energy information arm of McGraw-Hill Cos. Inventories have risen more than 30 million barrels in the last six weeks.
``Inventories are the focus now,'' said Moltke-Leth. ``If they rise again, it will put more downward pressure on crude.''
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries has struggled to bolster prices as output cuts fail to keep up with falling demand.
Venezuelan Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez said Wednesday the group may cut production again at a meeting on March 15, on top of the reduction of 4.2 million barrels a day announced since September. Ramirez said the 13-member cartel would like prices to rise to $70 a barrel.
``OPEC is looking very weak right now,'' said Moltke-Leth said. ``There's a lot of chatter from them, but the market isn't really listening.''
Moltke-Leth said prices will likely fall to about $32 a barrel, which would test the 10-year average price.
``$32 and a half is a significant line in the sand,'' he said. ``It's a key support level, and I expect the market to test how strong it is.''
In other Nymex trading, gasoline futures rose 0.83 cent to $1.07 a gallon. Heating oil gained 1.71 cents to $1.16 a gallon, while natural gas for March delivery jumped 3.0 cents to $4.24 per 1,000 cubic feet.
In London, the March Brent contract rose 98 cents to $40.54 on the ICE Futures exchange.
Agencies
Do Indians lag behind in online social networking?
Internet users in the country may be growing substantially, but when it comes to networking online, India has been placed among the nations with least exposure to social networking sites in the Asia-Pacific region.
The US-based internet marketing research firm comScore in a report has said that only 60.3 per cent of internet users in India are used to social networking sites, making it one of the Asia-Pacific countries with least exposure to the activity.
In terms of the penetration of social networking sites, India is ahead of Japan (50.9 per cent), China (45.6 per cent) and Taiwan (42.4 per cent).
According to the report, Singapore has the highest number of social networking site users at 74.3 per cent in the region, followed by Australia (68.3 per cent), South Korea (68 per cent) and Malaysia (66.6 per cent).
Hong Kong and New Zealand have the same per centage of such users at 62.8 per cent, the report noted.
However, comScore said that the number of visitors to social networking sites has increased by 51 per cent in India.
In India, the number of internet users visiting such sites rose by 51 per cent to 19.37 million in December 2008, the report said. The number of visitors stood at just 12.8 million in December 2007.
Agencies
The US-based internet marketing research firm comScore in a report has said that only 60.3 per cent of internet users in India are used to social networking sites, making it one of the Asia-Pacific countries with least exposure to the activity.
In terms of the penetration of social networking sites, India is ahead of Japan (50.9 per cent), China (45.6 per cent) and Taiwan (42.4 per cent).
According to the report, Singapore has the highest number of social networking site users at 74.3 per cent in the region, followed by Australia (68.3 per cent), South Korea (68 per cent) and Malaysia (66.6 per cent).
Hong Kong and New Zealand have the same per centage of such users at 62.8 per cent, the report noted.
However, comScore said that the number of visitors to social networking sites has increased by 51 per cent in India.
In India, the number of internet users visiting such sites rose by 51 per cent to 19.37 million in December 2008, the report said. The number of visitors stood at just 12.8 million in December 2007.
Agencies
Yahoo offers iPhone-like Web for masses
Yahoo announced a new mobile service on Tuesday that will deliver an iPhone-like experience for people who cannot or will not splash out for the iconic but pricey Apple device as times get hard.
Yahoo Mobile will launch at the end of March in a form downloadable to any phone with a Web browser and from May in custom versions for hundreds of smartphones.
"There is a growing number of consumers out there who are not Apple iPhone users but want a rich starting experience," Marco Boerries, the head of Yahoo's mobile division, told the media in an interview.
Yahoo will also launch a version of Yahoo Mobile, designed to be a starting point for users to access the Internet, for the iPhone itself at the end of March. A test version for a limited number of public users is going live this week.
Yahoo Mobile offers a front page with colorful, boxy icons resembling the iPhone's for launching popular applications such as a Web browser, mail, news, weather and social network sites like Facebook.
Users also have the option to easily add any software or Web sites they choose to download on their phones.
The company plans in coming months to promote Yahoo Mobile via a series of 70 major operator partnerships it has struck to reach 850 million mobile subscribers around the globe.
Fifty of those partnerships already offer Yahoo services and the company expects the rest to adopt Yahoo Mobile in coming months, Boerries said.
Yahoo has developed versions that work on hundreds of mid-range and high-end mobile phones from BlackBerry maker RIM, Nokia, Samsung, Sony Ericsson and Motorola, as well as phones running Microsoft Windows.
Boerries defines the universe of phones that can effectively run Yahoo Mobile as "every phone that's shipped in the last two years that has a decent HTML-capable browser." He added: "We don't want to make lowest common denominator stuff."
A more general version of the service downloadable from the Web will also work on older phones but will not be tailored to those phones' specifications. Boerries demonstrated it on an old Sony Ericsson model.
Boerries said last year's on-again off-again talks with would-be buyer Microsoft had not significantly distracted his team, and said he had kept his key staff together for years.
After some prior delays in introducing services such as Yahoo Go, Boerries professed relief that his fuller vision of putting the Web on phones had arrived on time: "It is really, for me, making it all come together."
"This is like the uber-replacement of Yahoo Go."
Agencies
Yahoo Mobile will launch at the end of March in a form downloadable to any phone with a Web browser and from May in custom versions for hundreds of smartphones.
"There is a growing number of consumers out there who are not Apple iPhone users but want a rich starting experience," Marco Boerries, the head of Yahoo's mobile division, told the media in an interview.
Yahoo will also launch a version of Yahoo Mobile, designed to be a starting point for users to access the Internet, for the iPhone itself at the end of March. A test version for a limited number of public users is going live this week.
Yahoo Mobile offers a front page with colorful, boxy icons resembling the iPhone's for launching popular applications such as a Web browser, mail, news, weather and social network sites like Facebook.
Users also have the option to easily add any software or Web sites they choose to download on their phones.
The company plans in coming months to promote Yahoo Mobile via a series of 70 major operator partnerships it has struck to reach 850 million mobile subscribers around the globe.
Fifty of those partnerships already offer Yahoo services and the company expects the rest to adopt Yahoo Mobile in coming months, Boerries said.
Yahoo has developed versions that work on hundreds of mid-range and high-end mobile phones from BlackBerry maker RIM, Nokia, Samsung, Sony Ericsson and Motorola, as well as phones running Microsoft Windows.
Boerries defines the universe of phones that can effectively run Yahoo Mobile as "every phone that's shipped in the last two years that has a decent HTML-capable browser." He added: "We don't want to make lowest common denominator stuff."
A more general version of the service downloadable from the Web will also work on older phones but will not be tailored to those phones' specifications. Boerries demonstrated it on an old Sony Ericsson model.
Boerries said last year's on-again off-again talks with would-be buyer Microsoft had not significantly distracted his team, and said he had kept his key staff together for years.
After some prior delays in introducing services such as Yahoo Go, Boerries professed relief that his fuller vision of putting the Web on phones had arrived on time: "It is really, for me, making it all come together."
"This is like the uber-replacement of Yahoo Go."
Agencies
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Has the crisis left Dubai migrant workers out in the cold?
Low-paid Asian workers who toil long days to build the skyscrapers of Dubai have become the latest victims of the global financial crisis as companies run short of business and money.
For many years, the Gulf emirate was a magnet for South Asian workers who fed the booming economy with cheap manpower -- from cleaners and gardeners to skilled and unskilled builders.
A report issued earlier this month showed that 582 billion dollars worth of building projects in the United Arab Emirates, of which Dubai is a part, had been put on hold due to the slowdown. That was 45 percent of the total.
Arnold, a 26-year-old Filipino machine operator, found a job in a small aluminium factory only two months after arriving in Dubai last summer. But in January, he and six others from the 15-strong workforce were laid off.
"I am staying in Dubai trying to find another job," he said, pointing out that his previous employer lost a great deal of business when many construction projects ground to a halt, cutting demand for aluminium products.
Six years of spectacular growth in the UAE construction sector, mainly in Dubai, absorbed hundreds of thousands of workers, mostly from South Asia. That had a knock-on effect, creating further opportunities for migrants.
But the financial crisis, mainly in construction and related industries, is reversing that trend, forcing foreign workers to go home.
"The crisis is worse in the Philippines. We have no future there. We are looking for part-time jobs here, anything," Arnold told AFP as he hung out with two friends who had also lost their jobs.
Christopher, a compatriot, said he has been in Dubai for around nine months working as a welder during the day and a barista in the evening.
He and his wife, who also works in a Dubai coffee shop, used to send 500 dirhams (136 dollars) a month home, where their two kids were left behind.
Migrant workers send billions of dollars home every year. One money transfer firm, UAE Exchange, said its volume last year was 12 billion dollars, most of it to India, Bangladesh and the Philippines.
Like Arnold, Christopher was working illegally in the hope that an employer would get him a work permit. Now he is searching desperately for anything.
But even for labourers who were brought to the UAE on a work visa to satisfy the needs of the once-booming economy, many are receiving the pink slip.
"Some 200 gardeners were sacked recently from our company" out of about 10,000 workers, said an Indian as he planted saplings in the garden of an elegant office building in Dubai.
"They told us the company does not have much work and is short of money," said the man in his mid-40s, refusing to give his name.
Two other colleagues, an Indian and a Bangladeshi, carried on trimming the hedge, appearing hesitant to say anything that might jeopardise their jobs.
"We are expecting to lose our jobs," said the man, who earns a meager 500 dirhams (136 dollars) a month in return for 48 hours a week.
He lamented that two years ago he had to pay what was for him a fortune of around 10,000 dirhams (2,725 dollars) to Indian intermediaries to get a job in Dubai.
Murukesan, an Indian cleaner, said his employer, a large cleaning and maintenance company, last week told workers who had completed at least two years of work to go home on four-month unpaid vacations.
"They said do not come back until we call you," he said with a faint smile, appearing content as he has completed only 18 months of his contract.
"In the past, workers were not taking vacations, even after four years of continuous work," he said, highlighting a huge work load in the immediate past.
It appears some of the unpaid "vacations" are simply a way of getting rid of people without having to pay them off. Under UAE law, workers laid off must be paid 21 days' salary for each of the first five years worked and a month's salary for every year after that.
"They are trying to find excuses to bypass the rules of terminating a contract," said Monir al-Zaman, labour attache at the Bangladeshi embassy.
"Compensation should be paid if workers are being fired," he told the media, adding that companies should resort to cutting overtime work and even reduce salaries before laying off workers.
In December, Khalfan al-Kaabi, a member of the Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce board of directors, said up to 45 percent of construction workers could be laid off this year if private sector projects in the UAE were delayed or cancelled.
Zaman said he could not provide a figure on Bangladeshi workers having lost their jobs in the UAE, because the process is not done "formally".
He also pointed out that he noticed, during inspection visits to labour camps, that many workers stayed in the UAE even if they were not being paid, in hope of finding work.
But poor unemployed workers cannot linger for long if jobs remain rare.
"Maybe this month I have to decide to stay or go ... because I don't have any money. Now I'm borrowing from friends," said Arnold.
Agencies
For many years, the Gulf emirate was a magnet for South Asian workers who fed the booming economy with cheap manpower -- from cleaners and gardeners to skilled and unskilled builders.
A report issued earlier this month showed that 582 billion dollars worth of building projects in the United Arab Emirates, of which Dubai is a part, had been put on hold due to the slowdown. That was 45 percent of the total.
Arnold, a 26-year-old Filipino machine operator, found a job in a small aluminium factory only two months after arriving in Dubai last summer. But in January, he and six others from the 15-strong workforce were laid off.
"I am staying in Dubai trying to find another job," he said, pointing out that his previous employer lost a great deal of business when many construction projects ground to a halt, cutting demand for aluminium products.
Six years of spectacular growth in the UAE construction sector, mainly in Dubai, absorbed hundreds of thousands of workers, mostly from South Asia. That had a knock-on effect, creating further opportunities for migrants.
But the financial crisis, mainly in construction and related industries, is reversing that trend, forcing foreign workers to go home.
"The crisis is worse in the Philippines. We have no future there. We are looking for part-time jobs here, anything," Arnold told AFP as he hung out with two friends who had also lost their jobs.
Christopher, a compatriot, said he has been in Dubai for around nine months working as a welder during the day and a barista in the evening.
He and his wife, who also works in a Dubai coffee shop, used to send 500 dirhams (136 dollars) a month home, where their two kids were left behind.
Migrant workers send billions of dollars home every year. One money transfer firm, UAE Exchange, said its volume last year was 12 billion dollars, most of it to India, Bangladesh and the Philippines.
Like Arnold, Christopher was working illegally in the hope that an employer would get him a work permit. Now he is searching desperately for anything.
But even for labourers who were brought to the UAE on a work visa to satisfy the needs of the once-booming economy, many are receiving the pink slip.
"Some 200 gardeners were sacked recently from our company" out of about 10,000 workers, said an Indian as he planted saplings in the garden of an elegant office building in Dubai.
"They told us the company does not have much work and is short of money," said the man in his mid-40s, refusing to give his name.
Two other colleagues, an Indian and a Bangladeshi, carried on trimming the hedge, appearing hesitant to say anything that might jeopardise their jobs.
"We are expecting to lose our jobs," said the man, who earns a meager 500 dirhams (136 dollars) a month in return for 48 hours a week.
He lamented that two years ago he had to pay what was for him a fortune of around 10,000 dirhams (2,725 dollars) to Indian intermediaries to get a job in Dubai.
Murukesan, an Indian cleaner, said his employer, a large cleaning and maintenance company, last week told workers who had completed at least two years of work to go home on four-month unpaid vacations.
"They said do not come back until we call you," he said with a faint smile, appearing content as he has completed only 18 months of his contract.
"In the past, workers were not taking vacations, even after four years of continuous work," he said, highlighting a huge work load in the immediate past.
It appears some of the unpaid "vacations" are simply a way of getting rid of people without having to pay them off. Under UAE law, workers laid off must be paid 21 days' salary for each of the first five years worked and a month's salary for every year after that.
"They are trying to find excuses to bypass the rules of terminating a contract," said Monir al-Zaman, labour attache at the Bangladeshi embassy.
"Compensation should be paid if workers are being fired," he told the media, adding that companies should resort to cutting overtime work and even reduce salaries before laying off workers.
In December, Khalfan al-Kaabi, a member of the Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce board of directors, said up to 45 percent of construction workers could be laid off this year if private sector projects in the UAE were delayed or cancelled.
Zaman said he could not provide a figure on Bangladeshi workers having lost their jobs in the UAE, because the process is not done "formally".
He also pointed out that he noticed, during inspection visits to labour camps, that many workers stayed in the UAE even if they were not being paid, in hope of finding work.
But poor unemployed workers cannot linger for long if jobs remain rare.
"Maybe this month I have to decide to stay or go ... because I don't have any money. Now I'm borrowing from friends," said Arnold.
Agencies
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