DUBAI Property consultants and relationship managers at Dubai- based Azizi Developments are quitting in droves after being told to take massive pay cuts.

Many said they are forced to hand over their papers as it is untenable to work at the real estate firm on the heavily reduced salaries.

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“I have a family to feed. How can they possibly expect me to sustain myself with 33 per cent less earnings? I had no choice but to resign,” said an Indian man who had been working with the developer as a senior relationship manager since 2016. His salary has been slashed to Dh8,000 from Dh12,000. A senior property consultant who quit last week said the new pay structure was a breach of their labour contract. “We have been told to accept the new contract or quit. This is so arbitrary and a blatant violation of our labour contracts,” he said.

A European woman who joined the company recently said she’s struggling to pay her bills because of the pay cut. The salary and performance bonus for the entire sales and marketing team was revised on July 1.

Under the new structure, senior property consultants and senior relationship managers have been offered Dh8,000 per month. Until June their take home salary was Dh10,000 and Dh12,000 respectively. It’s not immediately known how many people have been affected, but insiders at Azizi said the numbers could run into several hundreds.

Azizi Developments said the move was part of normal business operations.

In response to an XPRESS query, a company spokesperson said they are continuously evaluating employee requirements and compensation packages in order to stay competitive in the marketplace. “Our priority is on fostering a results-based performance culture in order to keep our clients’ needs at the core of our business,” the spokesperson said in an email statement. “These are extremely busy times for Azizi Developments, and with more than 200 projects in various stages of development across the UAE, we continue to be steadfast in our commitment to build communities that bring people closer,” the statement added.

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