Nakheel spokeswoman: some wages were revised in April Nakheel’s long-serving Chief Executive Sanjay Manchanda stepped down on March 1 LONDON: Dubai property developer Nakheel has cut salaries by as much as half as the pandemic hits Dubai property developers and mall owners. The salary cuts took effect from April 1 and varied according to employee grades the developer said in a statement to Arab News. Earlier Reuters reported the job cuts and the departure of former CEO Sanjay Manchanda who stepped down on March 1 to pursue new opportunities. “Nakheel, like all businesses across the globe, continues to be impacted by this unprecedented situation, and must put measures in place to allow us to continue to operate in the best interests of our stakeholders,” the developer said in a statement. “We are extremely grateful to our employees for their dedication, commitment and understanding during this difficult phase, which we can – and will – overcome.” Earlier this year, the developer announced the appointment of Mohammed Al-Shaibani as its new chairman following the departure of Ali Rashid Lootah who had led the company since the last financial crisis when its debts were restructured. In recent years, the developer had increased its exposure to the retail sector in a quest to boost recurring revenues and reduce its exposure to boom-bust residential property cycles. However, it was forced to close most of its malls after the government introduced lockdown restrictions in a bid to curb the spread of the coronavirus COVID-19.