Oman draws line in sand for companies

Make sure staff is 35% Omani or lose your incentives

MUSCAT // Private companies in Oman risk losing generous government incentives if they do not hit targets for employing Omanis.

Ali Al Sunaidi, minister of commerce and industry, has warned companies that 35 per cent of their workforce must be Omani or they will lose benefits.

The figure was set in 2010 as part of the sultanate’s Omanisation process, which began in 1988 with a drive to replace expatriates in key sectors such as engineering, education, health and finance.

“I understand that with jobs Omanis cannot do then there is a justification for expatriates to do them,” Mr Al Sunaidi told an industry meeting on Sunday. “There are many Omanis who are well qualified to do them but the private sector doesn’t do enough to replace the expatriates with the positions.

“We at the ministry will not continue to support or provide incentives to the companies that don’t help the government’s drive to comply with the Omanisation process.”

Just over 10 per cent of private-sector workers are Omanis, government statistics show.

About 1.85 million expatriates hold various positions in the private sector, compared to about 223,000 Omanis, and there are more than 54,000 Omanis looking for jobs.

Incentives include free commercial land, soft loans, free training for recruits and low corporate taxes and duties.

Workforce analysts say most expats are in engineering, where many Omanis fail to get jobs, despite 44 per cent of graduates having studied engineering.

“This is the sector that can generate a lot of jobs for Omanis,” said Hamood Al Toky, director at Capital Manpower Agency.

“A big majority of these jobs are occupied by expatriates. Why? Because directors of the private companies don’t trust Omanis or simply don’t have confidence that they can do these jobs well.

“But if Omanis cannot get a chance how would they get the experience and confidence?” Only 50,083 Omanis work in engineering, which employs nearly 845,000 expatriates. Even more surprising is that there are about 4,500 qualified Omani engineers who are unemployed.

Salim Al Makbali, chief executive of Construction Engineering Equipment and Maintenance, agreed that more Omani engineers needed to get jobs but said they cost more to recruit.

“Omanis want high salaries and they quickly leave the company if they get another offer,” Mr Al Makbali said.