Saudi Prince Mohammed bin Salman's dream project Neom city suffers major setback! Preparations to lay off 20 per cent of employees due to...
In Saudi Arabia, the promising NEOM City project seems to be in trouble. On Friday, Semaphore reported that NEOM planned to lay off approximately 1,000 employees – 20% of its workforce – suggesting the Saudi government is downsizing its flagship giga project.
The relocations, anticipated to start later this year, would roll back former NEOM CEO Nadhmi Al-Nasr's policy of placing employees in an isolated construction site, three sources stated, as reported by Semafor. Employees who are transferred to the Capital will lose several benefits, such as housing and meals, extended to them at NEOM because of its remote location, resulting in a de facto pay cut.
Semaphore's report is part of a string of stories suggesting that Saudi officials are throttling their ambitions for NEOM, which was going to be a 'futuristic' development located along Saudi Arabia's Red Sea coast with luxury hotels, ski hills, a 170 kilometre linear city called 'The Line,' and an industrial city. The name 'NEOM' stands for the Greek 'neos' (meaning 'new') and the Arabic word 'mustaqbal' (meaning 'future'), which stands for 'new future.' NEOM is part of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's Vision 2030 initiative. Project NEOM will cover 263,000 hectares and aims to diversify Saudi Arabia's economy away from oil dependency.
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