Omanis told to rise up to challenges of job market

Muscat: Omanis should rise up to challenges of a competitive market and grow in their careers, Oman’s Minister of Manpower Abdullah Al Bakri has said.

He said 77 per cent of managerial jobs in Oman’s private sector are held by expatriates, while Omanis constitute only 23 per cent of such jobs. “This is a challenge. It’s the responsibility of the company owners [to correct this], as well as for Omanis to prove themselves in the competitive market,” Al Bakri said, adding that Omanis should eventually replace expatriates in managerial and leadership positions in the private sector.

This was highlighted during a two-day debate in Oman’s elected legislative body, the Shura Council, that concluded yesterday.

Last year the Shura Council recommended that 40 per cent of all senior positions in the private sector should be taken by Omanis in the next five years.

In November, Oman introduced a 50 per cent increase in expatriate work permit fees for the private sector, in a move that was expected to fill the state’s coffers with millions of rials amid the plunge in oil prices, Oman’s main source of revenue.

Economic experts say the move could benefit Omani nationals who will be able to compete for jobs with expatriates, especially in managerial positions.

Oman’s expatriate population has rapidly grown over the past five years, according the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI) figures.

Currently, expatriates form around 45.5 per cent of the total population, whereas they accounted for 38.9 per cent of the population in 2011 and 29 per cent in 2010.

Al Bakri revealed that there are 228,070 Omanis working in the private sector, constituting only 11.7 per cent of the employees in the sector. The rest are expatriates.

Al Bakri expected that the number of Omanis will increase in the private sector after the ministry recently introduced development programme.

The minister revealed that 120,000 expatriate employees join the labour market every year, mostly in the construction sector and real estate.

Meanwhile, Al Bakri said the Ministry of Manpower banned more than 5,000 companies in the past two years for violating labour law.

To attracting Omanis in the private sector, Shura members recommended that the government should provide Omani workers in the private sector with a land plot, annual allowance and low-interest loans.