18,716 jobs made available in Oman

MUSCAT: Oman is on course to surpass its 2023 employment and replacement target of creating 35,000 jobs, with 18,716 public and private sector jobs created by June, reaching 53% of the yearly target.

The latest figures from the Labor Ministry show the total number of new jobs in government and private sector entities touched 18,716 by the end of June.

“Of these, a total of 9,169 jobs were made available in the government sector, and 7,399 jobs in the private sector,” the ministry said, adding that “53 percent of the Employment and Replacement Plan set for the second quarter of 2023 was realised.”

The employment and replacement plan is a government initiative to increase job opportunities for Omani citizens and replace foreign workers with locals.

Elaborating about the job rotation (those who previously worked for the private sector) stood at 16,486, the ministry said. The ministry further pointed out that the volume of first-time employees and those who occupied jobs before stood at 35,202.

The number of on-the-job training opportunities associated with the replacement of outgoing employees and employment of fresh employees stood at 611 in the government sector, while the corresponding number of opportunities in the private sector stood at 1,537.

As many as 941 enrolled in the ministry’s Self-Employment Initiative, which is a training track that connects jobseekers with a number of training programmes to qualify them to take up opportunities related to self-employment in the local and global market.

In February 2023, Minister of Labour, Dr Mahad bin Saeed Ba’awin, said that more than 86,000 citizens were provided jobs in the public and private sectors over the last two years in the Sultanate of Oman.

In a review meeting before the Shura Council, the Minister had said, “Providing jobs is a top priority and the Ministry, in cooperation with strategic partners, created job opportunities for 86,530 male and female citizens in both public and private sectors from January 2021 to December 2022.”

He also said that the Ministry is making constant efforts in implementing strategic approaches to develop labour market policies, provide facilities and lend support for the private sector, and channel efforts towards launching many job initiatives to provide suitable job opportunities for jobseekers.