Bank M&As may brighten job prospects in UAE

After the big announcement of Emirates NBD taking over Dubai Bank, talk of further M&As as part of Dubai’s consolidation strategy are rife.

One of the underlying implications is that such moves could lead to job losses.

While on the Emirates NBD-Dubai Bank merger, a senior executive told this website: “It is too early to comment about job losses at this stage of acquisition,” recruitment experts said a variety of factors affected who stayed and who left (or was let go) after a major merger.

“It is still early to comment on this specific case but if I were working there, I would prepare a contingency plan in case I was not happy post-merger. I believe that the branch network will remain unaffected but it is possible to see changes within the senior executive team,” Shane Phillips, Mena Regional Practice Leader, Financial & Professional Services at Stanton Chase told this website.

“It won’t happen overnight but there are always casualties in any merger/takeover,” added Peter Greaves, Director, Head of Financial Markets at McArthur Murray, Dubai.

Experts believe that even if there are some unhappy events, this may be for the short-term. “Perhaps in the beginning, there may be some [job losses] due to duplications, integration, and streamlining, however, in the mid to long-term it will be a stronger bank, with a larger customer base, and therefore should create more jobs [eventually],” said Hasnain Qazi, Middle East Business Manager at Huxley Associates.

According to the Stanton Chase expert, “Historically, the acquired tends to have a more challenging time than the acquirer. The latter tends to be in charge of the merger and the post-acquisition process and normally it is done at the expense of the acquired entity.

“Statistically speaking, the acquired senior leadership team rarely survives the process. The acquisition process is really a change culture event for the acquired company and any change culture event will result in a minimum of 20% turnover of staff. This is a natural outcome and should be expected.

“It should be also noted that a lot of that turn over will be voluntary.  Some executives simply will not subscribe to the new agenda and will chose to leave of their own volition. There is nothing wrong with that.”

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