UK energy services company Petrofac is in the process of firing around 200 of its staff in the United Arab Emirates, with a day’s notice.

Around 180 people in the UAE connected to an offshore wind grid programme that underpinned most of the company’s engineering and construction revenue were laid off last week, ending on November 19.

According to Gulf News, a source close to the matter revealed that salaries were being paid only up to November 19, with no clarity on notice periods or gratuity.

“We were all told that some 190 or 200 of us were getting terminated that day itself, with the next day being our last working day,” a Petrofac employee told the news outlet.

Those laid off workers include project directors, senior engineers, and support staff linked to the now-terminated 2GW offshore wind transmission programme with TenneT.

Cash-strapped Petrofac has been working on a financial restructuring of its business since 2024. As Petrofac could not meet its contractual obligations, TenneT terminated part of the contract related to the UK company’s scope last week. This led to Petrofac Limited entering administration only days later because of the contract cancellation. Indian engineering conglomerate Larsen & Toubro has replaced Petrofac following the termination.

“It all came to a head when […] TenneT terminated our contract because our financial restructuring did not go according to some milestones that TenneT had set for us. Almost instantly, Petrofac flopped and went bust, pretty much,” a manager, who wanted to remain anonymous, told Gulf News.

Long-serving engineers and managers of Petrofac’s UAE division now fear they may never see their legally mandated end-of-service gratuity, regardless of whether the group’s holding company goes through a court-supervised administration in the UK. Reports indicate that the unpaid gratuity owed to the staff could exceed AED 27m ($7.35m).