Expat worker hiring on the rise again

Muscat: An increase in the number of white-collar expatriate workers is being seen in Oman once again, according to government figures.

Numbers released by the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI) show that the number of expatriate workers stood at 1,439,908 million in January 2021, up from 1,406,976 at the end of December, 2020.

However, the numbers of expatriates holding bachelors’ degrees increased from 112,186 at the end of December, 2020, to 114,812 in January, 2021, a 2.3 percent increase.

Similarly, Oman had more expatriates with masters’ degrees and PhDs (9,100) in January 2021, as compared to the end of last year (8,892). There’s also been an increase of expat workers with general diplomas: 242,341 workers in January, 2021, compared to 236,798 last December.

During this period, the numbers of expatriate workers lacking basic education has fallen, from 1,015,260 workers in December 2020, to 1,039,125 in January 2021.

Since the start of the year, about 8,700 Bangladeshi expatriates have come to the country for work. They make up Oman’s largest expat community, with 549,234 workers. The numbers of Indians have also increased by around 8,150, to reach 491,138.

About 5,000 Pakistani nationals have also arrived to Oman this year to take up work, boosting their numbers to 182,293. There are now 44,185 Filipinos in the country, an increase of about 2,000 workers since last December. The numbers of workers from Egypt, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Tanzania, and Uganda have also increased slightly.

The private sector employs the lion’s share of these workers: 79 percent of expatriates (1,148,871 non-Omanis) are employed there, while the government sector has about 41,866 workers as of January 2021, down from 43,842 at the end of December. About a quarter of a million foreign workers are directly employed by families.

Muscat is still home to roughly a third of the expatriate workers (587,547), while there about 200,000 workers in North Al Batinah, and more than 150,000 in the southern Dhofar region.

Ad Dakhiliyah and South Al Batinah each have another 100,000 workers living there. There are between 75,000 and 80,000 workers in both North and South Sharqiyah, while 45,000 expat workers are based in Ad Dhahirah.

The central Governorate of Wusta has about 25,000 workers, and there are nearly 40,000 workers in Al Buraimi. The northern Governorate of Musandam has the smallest expatriate worker representation in the country, at just 11,919 workers.