Muscat: More than 13,000 Omani job-seekers have been employed in the public and private sectors since December, officials of the Ministry of Manpower said.

The drive is part of Omani government plans to provide jobs to nationals. On October 3, the Council announced 25,000 jobs would be created for Omanis in both the private and public sectors starting from December.

“The employment of Omanis has reached 54 per cent, [which is just over the] halfway mark of the targeted number,” an official at the ministry told Gulf News.

The official added the employment process will continue even after this period.

“Hundreds of job-seekers undergo interviews every week by the ministry,” said the official. He pointed out Omanis should be given priority in both private and public sector jobs, stressing that expats should be hired in jobs for which qualified Omanis are unavailable.

In January, Oman’s Council of Ministers said it was following up on the implementation of plans to provide 25,000 jobs to Omani nationals in various sectors in the next six months.

“The Council of Ministers is closely monitoring the progress of employment procedures on a weekly basis in order to get first-hand knowledge of what has been achieved and deal with any challenges that might obstruct implementation of plans,” a statement issued by the council said.

Sayyid Fahd Bin Mahmoud Al Said, Deputy Prime Minister for the Council of Ministers, said providing employment to Omanis is a national duty. He pointed out that Oman’s economy is capable of rising to the challenge but this requires the regularisation of the labour market. “The government is working hard to achieve [its aims] so that the labour market can handle the requirements of each stage of development”, he said.

The current figures showed there are 50,000 Omanis seeking work, according to the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI).

The number of job seekers in Oman rose by 11 per cent by the end of July and most of those are university graduates, according to NCSI.

The country’s population currently stands at approximately 4.7 million people.