Dubai-based company fires Indian staff
The global financial crisis has claimed more victims in India. Dozens of employees of a Dubai-based company have lost their jobs as the company has put its expansion plans on hold.
The global financial crisis has claimed more victims in India. Dozens of employees of a Dubai-based company have lost their jobs as the company has put its expansion plans on hold.
The Indicaa Group, which trades in scrap metal and is run by an Indian, had recently hired management graduates, mostly from small towns across India, to work at its overseas offices.
According to estimates available with the candidates, about 120 persons were offered jobs. At least 40 of those hired were from north India.
“The hiring was done from three centres: Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai. People from all over the country had applied,” said Anurodh Gupta, a candidate from Ghaziabad, who had undergone training in Ludhiana on October 6 and 7.
A management graduate, Gupta was to join Indicaa’s office in Johannesburg, South Africa as a procurement officer.
“We were offered the job with proper appointment letters and terminated while on job,” he said.
In its letters offering the jobs, the company had claimed that its operations span 55 cities in 33 countries of Middle East, Europe and Africa and the group has an annual turnover of US $300 million.
Blaming the global financial meltdown, the company has written to the candidates, informing them that their job offers stand cancelled.
“The adverse market trend and the recession in the industry has forced us to abandon / postpone the plans of expansion, and in line with this constraint, the offer extended to you stands withdrawn with immediate effect,” said an email sent by the company to the candidates (HT has seen a copy of the email).
Gupta said he had not received any communication other than the e-mail. “The company has said that it would not write to us in detail.”
Indicaa Group officials declined to comment. “We cannot comment on the issue and no details can be provided regarding this matter,” said Raj Vaidyanathan, the company’s Commercial Director based in Dubai.