BEIRUT: More than 500 members of staff were laid off by Lebanon’s American University of Beirut Medical Center on Friday, local media reported.
The layoffs, part of AUB’s plan to reduce a significant number of its staff, come amid the country weathering worsening economic and financial crises. The university had previously announced in June that it was planning layoffs and pay cuts.
One former employee told local television media on the scene: “We’ve been thrown out on the street. Our salary is worthless anyway, we’re the ones who suffer.”
Lebanon’s currency, the Lebanese Lira, has lost over 80 percent of its value in eight months as talks with the International Monetary Fund are deadlocked over political quarreling between the government and the Central Bank.
“Temporary sacrifices will have to be made as the implosion of Lebanon’s economy poses a fundamental challenge,” AUB’s President Dr. Fadlo Khuri told Arab News in an interview in May.
“Lebanon has been living beyond its means as a country for a while and we’ve been concerned about this. Post-war, this wasn’t addressed,” Khuri said at the time.
Lebanese security forces were present at the scene when the announcement came out, with AUBMC’s entrance being blocked by protesters rallying against the layoffs.
