Wednesday 24 / April / 2024
Muscat: Omanisation policies and the replacement of expatriates with nationals led to 218,000 expatriates leaving the private and public sectors between March 2020 and March 2021, said Basem bin Mohammed Al Balushi, the head of the Labour Statistics Department at the Ministry of Labour.
The bringing in of more Omanis into the labour force is part of the ministry’s efforts to step up its Omanisation plans in the private and public sectors, he said, speaking to Al Shabiba Radio, the radio partner of the Times of Oman’s sister Arabic publication, Al Shabiba.
“The number of expatriates with university degrees employed in the government and private sector has decreased by 13,632,” he said.
“This is due to the replacement process carried out by the Ministry of Labour. About 5,041 expatriate jobs in the government sector were replaced by Omanis, from January to March 2021. During this time, 3,010 private sector expat jobs have also been taken over by Omanis.
“About 205,000 non-Omani workers left the private sector, and 13,000 were released from the government. The total number of expatriate employees has therefore decreased by 218,000, when we compare the number of non-Omanis between March 2020, and March 2021,” he said.
“This is due to the current economic condition, and owing to internal policies adopted by the ministry to resettle its national workforce, and accommodate them in the labour market,” added Al Balushi.
Among the steps taken to encourage the hiring of Omanis were raising expatriate employment fees for supervisor and specialist roles, and the Omanisation of certain positions such as manager posts at petrol stations and roles at optician stores, and the launch of an education financing and rehabilitation initiative between the Ministry of Labour, Ministry of Education, and some banks in the country.
Other positions in which only Omanis can be hired, moving forward, include drivers of vehicles that transport fuel, agricultural materials, and foodstuffs, administrative and financial roles in insurance companies, sales, accounting, management and finance jobs in commercial complexes, and auditor positions in car agencies and companies that sell automobile spare parts.
“These initiatives and decisions to hire more Omanis has led to an increase in the number of nationals in the labour force, and a decrease in expatriate workforce numbers,” Al Balushi explained. “Currently, there are 22,405 expats with bachelors’ degrees, and about 14,183 with diplomas working in jobs outside technical and specialised fields.”
Also opther steps like the launch of an education financing and rehabilitation initiative between the Ministry of Labour, Ministry of Education, and some banks in the country.
Other positions in which only Omanis can be hired, moving forward, include drivers of vehicles that transport fuel, agricultural materials, and foodstuffs, administrative and financial roles in insurance companies, sales, accounting, management and finance jobs in commercial complexes, and auditor positions in car agencies and companies that sell automobile spare parts.
“These initiatives and decisions to hire more Omanis has led to an increase in the number of nationals in the labour force, and a decrease in expatriate workforce numbers,” Al Balushi explained.
Permits regarding the hiring of expatriate workers who wish to come to Oman have also been made legal.
