Over 60 Omanis to replace expats in Health Ministry

Muscat: Sixty three Oman citizens have been offered jobs at the Ministry of Health, to fill positions that were earlier held by expatriate workers.
A statement by the Ministry of Health read, “The Ministry announces the names of citizens accepted to work as Technicians A (labs) and Technicians B (dental) which are vacant in some health institutions to replace expatriate workers in these professions.
“Those accepted must arrive at the department of employment at the Ministry within two weeks of the date 19 May, 2019,” the statement added.
Sixty of those offered jobs will work as lab technicians while three will work as dental technicians, according to the statement. Sixty of those accepted by the Ministry are women.
The move is part of a plan by the government to step up its Omanisation drive, replacing expats with Omanis from the local workforce.
In February 2019, 200 expatriate nurses were replaced by Omanis, the Ministry of Health had announced. These nurses were mostly based in hospitals and clinics in Buraimi, Khasab, Jalan Bani Bu Ali, Sohar, Khasab, Haima, Khoula, Seeb, Baushar and Royal Hospital.
Over the last two years, more than 550 expat nurses have been replaced, as a similar number of Omani nationals have been hired to fill the same positions. The country continues to advance its Omanisation efforts in both the private and public sectors.
The ministry had previously said: “Because of the increase in the number of graduates from the local educational and training institutions, there has been a substantial increase of Omanis in recent years in certain categories.”
Omanisation rates for MOH nurses have climbed steadily since 1990, when the rate was just 12 per cent. By December 2014, that number had rocketed to 59 per cent and rose again in 2016 to 61 percent. The highest rate of Omanisation on record so far is 67 per cent in 2010.