‘We need people to come to Oman for longer term’
“This is how companies must operate. Freedom of movement is good but within certain limits that don’t hurt the economy and business,” he added.
In tune with the rest of the GCC economies, Oman has been struggling with low oil prices and opening the employment market will play an important role in stimulating economic growth, experts believe.
Important
“The NOC law has to stay but the tweak is very important for economic growth. We can’t have a good business environment if a person who has fulfilled the contract has to obtain an NOC from the employer,” said Imtiaz Sikder, a financial advisor at a reputed firm in Muscat.
“We need people to come to Oman for longer term instead of working just two years and leaving, something that is harming the economy.
Change can help
“This change can help the business environment without harming the businesses in any way,” he added.
Jassim Al Balushi, Deputy Head of Education & Professional Development Department at Caledonian College, said:
“According to my understanding, the NOC is denied to those who do bad work or don’t do a complete job on time, so if they give NOCs to these people, they will come and do the same thing with other companies,” he said. “This condition of NOC therefore helps people work hard and stick to their work ethics.
Point of view
“But if they keep it like this, staff might be de-motivated from working hard,” added Al Balushi. “The prevalence of the NOC depends on many administrative institutes and the Royal Oman Police, but my point of view is that it is not good for Oman, unless the person has done something wrong or has committed a serious mistake that will stop him from joining another institution.
Freedom
“People should be given the freedom to change jobs,” he added. “People have their families and many expenses here and today, if you work in one institution and tomorrow you terminate that person, where will he go? He may have taken a loan to buy a new car and now he cannot settle that loan, so this is not good. We all work in the same basket so it should be open to everyone.”