eFinancialCareers

Losing your job is never nice, but in Dubai it’s a particularly horrible experience – especially if you’re an expat.

The root of the horror is that both residency and the right to work for expats working in Dubai’s finance industry are dependent on sponsorship by the employer. If you’re laid off, this goes up in smoke and you have 30 days to leave the country, unless a new employer takes you on, says Guy Michael Solling, of law firm James Berry & Associates.

In reality, unless your departure is particularly acrimonious, a firm will typically extend the visa for three months after your actual departure to allow you time to find another job, says Stuart Walker, associate at law firm Afridi & Angell.

With international banks shipping bankers out to the Middle East, a serious talent shortage in financial services in the region and a desperate need for expat expertise, if you’re fired it’s unlikely you’ll find yourself out of work for too long.

One way to sidestep reliance on employers is to invest in certain types of freehold property.

“Some people are choosing to get sponsorship through property and bypassing the employer, because it makes it easier to change jobs,” says Walker.

What if you lose your job and find yourself shipped out of the country 30 days later?

Solling says: “Western nationals may return to the UAE afterwards on a visit visa, obtainable on entry, if they cannot find new employment in the country within 30 days. This is what is locally referred to as ‘the visa run’. Visit visas last for 30 days and can be renewed an indefinite number of times at present.”

Job hopping is rife within the UAE financial sector, and expats have been given an extra helping hand with this by relaxed employment law, says Yvonne Sonsino, worldwide partner in Mercer’s international consulting group.

“In the past, expatriates would commonly stay for three-year assignments and then return home. Many are now choosing to move on more quickly to other positions in the region,” she says.

But you needn’t worry too much about being thrown out on your ear. One employment lawyer tells us: “In the four and a half years I have been in the UAE, I’ve never heard of an investment banker being laid off.”