Muscat: Eighteen Omani citizens have been offered jobs at the Ministry of Health, to fill positions that were earlier held by expatriate workers.
“The Ministry announces the names of citizens accepted to work as first technician for respiratory therapy, first technician for ultrasound cardiography, first radiography technician, first sleep disorder technician, first medical physicist, artificial-limbs technician, cardiac perfusion technician and first mental health technician, which are vacant in some health institutions, to replace expatriate workers in these professions," the Ministry said in a statement.
“Those accepted must arrive at the department of employment at the Ministry within two weeks from 9 June, 2019,” the statement added.
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 600 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.