Indians in UAE battle job losses and salary cuts as Iran war drags

Her story, as narrated to Financial Express, is the one that puts a human face on the “hit hard” industry, Maria describes from a distance. “The conflict has directly impacted me.” she says.

Even the formalities of leaving were delayed by the chaos. Her final settlement was processed, but “it was only released in mid-May, several weeks after my last working day.” Worse, company policy meant she could not keep her UAE visa active after termination, layering a legal headache on top of a financial one. “Since losing my job I have been unable to send any money home at all,” she says.

Experts say, March remittance surge from the Gulf wasn’t panicking, it was precaution. “We saw the same pattern during COVID. Workers send money home faster when there’s regional uncertainty, and flow normalises once the situation stabilizes,” immigration attorneys Gnanamookan Senthurjothi and Veena Vijay Ananth state.

The travel company she worked for did not mince words when it let her go. “Business had come to a near standstill,” she recalls. Across the sector, she has watched the same pattern repeat. “Companies either freeze hiring, reduce headcount, or cut costs wherever possible.”

“With no source of income since losing my job, I have been struggling to cope with the rising cost of living in Dubai,” she says. “Meeting basic needs such as rent, food and daily essentials has become a serious challenge, and on top of that, I have been unable to keep up with my credit card bills, which has added enormous financial stress. What was once a stable, comfortable life has been completely turned upside down.”

And yet, when asked if she has thought about going home, Maria’s answer carries a stubbornness that runs through almost every conversation Financial Express India had for this story.

“Honestly, no. Going back home has never really been an option I have seriously considered, even through all of this. I came to Dubai with a purpose, to build a better life for myself and to support my family… I am hopeful that things will turn around, and I am not ready to give up on that just yet.”

The war many thought won’t last beyond a fortnight

In February 2026, when the United States and Israel launched their war on Iran, most people in the Gulf expected it to halt in a fortnight. For the millions of Indians who call the UAE home, the war was not just a breaking news flashing on TV screens, it impacted lives.

For many, salary shrank overnight, jobs vanished without warning, and the reason a young woman flew back to India for a month was because her father’s company received a threat notification..

Dilsha survived but has no peace of mind

“It has been mentally stressful at times. I have worried about what might happen if I were to lose my job,” Dilsha Parveen, 29, works as a senior pricing and customer service executive at a freight forwarding company in the logistics sector.

Her company’s headquarters in Denmark gave it the financial cushion to absorb the shock of war, and her salary has not been touched.

“My company has strong management and excellent financial support from our headquarters in Denmark, so my salary has not been affected till now,” she says. “And even if the business was low, we did not go on loss other than a month in the past six months.”

But financial security has not translated into peace of mind.

“It has been mentally stressful at times, initial war times, as I have worried about what might happen in the future if I were to lose my job,” she admits.

Her account of her industry, though, tells a harder story than her own. “The logistics and travel industries have been hit hard by the war scenarios,” she says. “Many small companies have shut down, and several medium-sized companies have asked half the employees to go on mandatory leave due to reduced business and uncertainty.” She survived the storm.

Investment continues to flow into AI and digital skills

Not every business leader in the UAE describes the war as a story of contraction. Himanshu Vashishtha, CEO and founder of Dubai-based SixthFactor Consulting, sees a market that has become more selective rather than one that has shut down.

“What we’re seeing is companies becoming much more deliberate about where they invest,” he says. “Businesses with greater exposure to regional travel and cross-border activity are understandably placing a sharper focus on optimisation in the near term.”But beyond that narrower band of exposed sectors, he insists the picture looks very different.

“Across most other sectors, operations are largely continuing as normal, with investment continuing to flow into AI, customer intelligence, automation and data because these investments improve decision-making and create long-term value,” he says.

Hiring, in his account, has followed the same logic. “We’re seeing the same approach reflected in hiring, with demand remaining strong for people with AI, data and digital expertise, particularly across banking, financial services, retail and FMCG.”

It is a reminder that the war’s economic damage has not been evenly distributed. Travel, tourism and logistics have borne the brunt, while sectors insulated from cross-border movement have remained stable.

‘Online education is the worst thing you could do to a student’

For Amitha Rajkumar, a master’s student in Dubai, the war impacted her academic life. Her university shifted entirely online within days of the war beginning.

Beneath the campus story sits a harder economic one that Amitha, job-hunting herself, has watched up close. “The usual salary for a fresher would be like 4,000 dirhams, but right now it’s like 2,000, 2,500 to 3,000 dirhams, which is not great in this economy.”

‘My salary was reduced by 45% for three months’

Niveditha, 28, who works in logistics operations, represents the more common experience. “My salary was reduced by 45% for three months, April, May and June, and no bonuses have been released. The company stated it was on loss,” she says.

The cut travelled straight to her family’s finances. “Since my income has been reduced, I had to reduce the amount of money I send home.”

Like Maria, she has watched her industry retreat into caution. “There has been decline in business across the industry. Hiring has slowed considerably, and companies are focusing on maximizing the utilization of their existing workforce,” she says.

‘The UAE is re-engineering who gets to stay long term’

Away from salaries and campuses, immigration attorneys Gnanamookan Senthurjothi and Veena Vijay Anant, Founders of The VisaCode, have been watching a different story unfold, one about who the UAE wants to keep. “The UAE is quietly re-engineering who gets to stay long term,” they note.

“A few years ago, the Golden Visa was really a wealth instrument, AED 2 million in property or investment. Now a skilled professional can qualify on a AED 30,000 monthly salary alone, with no property purchase at all. That’s a real shift from courting capital to courting talent.”

For Indian professionals, that shift cuts two ways. “For Indian professionals building a long-term base in the UAE, the environment has rarely been more welcoming,” they say.

But for those using the UAE as a stepping stone to the United States, the war has made an already slow process slower still. “For those using the UAE as a stepping stone to the US, the calculus is getting harder, not because eligibility has changed, but because the queue itself has become a cost.”