Dubai: More than 200,000 expat workers left Oman in the past 12 months as a result of the repercussions of COVID-19 and government initiatives to employ more Omanis in both public and private sectors.
According to the latest numbers revealed by the National Centre for Statistics and Information, 218,000 workers left the country in one year. With the government announcing 32,000 jobs for citizens, the expat population could further decline in the coming months.
“Last year, with the pandemic, we have seen a lot of expat workers including their families leaving the country for good. Now, with the government intensifying its efforts to create job opportunities for Omanis, the number of expats will drop further,” said a top official at Ministry of Labour.
12,000 more jobs in the pipeline for nationals
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Muscat: The Ministry of Labour is making unremitting efforts to provide job opportunities for citizens.
Stating this, a top official from the Ministry of Labour, said: “At the beginning of this year, we announced the intention to provide 32,000 job opportunities in the public and private sectors. By the end of the first quarter, the ministry was able to provide 10,000 jobs, of which 4,051 jobs were in the units of the state’s administrative apparatus by replacing and creating new financial degrees.”
The ministry has succeeded in providing 1,330 jobs in the Ministry of Health; 2,469 in the Ministry of Education; 115 in the Ministry of Higher Education, Scientific Research and Innovation, and 92 at the University of Technology and Applied Sciences, and other government institutions.
Expat workers drop by 13% in Oman SHARE
The number of expatriate workers in the government and private sectors in the Sultanate declined by 13 per cent to 218,000, the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI).
The number of expatriates working in the government sector decreased to 40,898 from 53,332 the same period last year, while in the private sector it decreased to 1, 403, 287 compared to 1, 608, 781 a year ago.
The number of higher education diploma or general education diploma holders among expatriate workers in the government and private sectors decreased to 13,632 between March 2020 and March 2021. SHARE ARTICLE Most Read