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In this sentence:

"It employs thousands of people, many of them highly creative knowledgeable workers from around the world."

is it the same as:

"It employs thousands of people, many of them ARE highly creative knowledgeable workers from around the world".

If so, why was the are omitted and is there a rule to explain this?

No, but it would be the same as either

"It employs thousands of people. Many of them are highly creative knowledgeable workers from around the world".

or

"It employs thousands of people, many of WHOM are highly creative knowledgeable workers from around the world".

However, the writer has saved words by avoiding both options, choosing instead the so-called "absolute" construction, in which the finite form of the verb 'be' is simply omitted.