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EDITOR IN CHIEF- ABDULLAH BIN SALIM AL SHUEILI

44,000 job-seekers enter market every year

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By Amal Rajab — MUSCAT: Jan. 9 - The number of active Omani job-seekers stood at 42,000, of whom 75 per cent are under 29 years old and 67 per cent of them are females, according to an official statistics issued by the Public Authority for Manpower Register for the year 2016. Currently the job-seekers spend 3.5 years on average to find jobs, however, efforts are on to speed up economic diversification to achieve a number of goals including providing job opportunities for nationals. The labour market is awaiting the implementation of the initiatives adopted by the National Programme for Enhancing Economic Diversification (Tanfeedh).


The meeting of the manpower laboratory which was held as part of Tanfeedh concluded that 44,000 job-seekers will enter the job market every year until 2020. The lab presented a package of initiatives which aims to bridge the gap between the supply and demand in the job market, and is expected to be implemented shortly as part of the first stage of Tanfeedh programme. These initiatives include proposals for an employment policy associated with the provision of part-time jobs, while at the same time enhancing flexible movement of workforce and following a gradual Omanisation policy taking into consideration the special nature of each sector.


The manpower laboratory came up with several initiatives which can be applied to the labour market. The first of these is setting up a single-window for issue of work permits with a view to reducing the time spent in obtaining a permit from several months to five days. The second initiative seeks to offer a package facilitation for construction sector workers. It’s an eight-pronged package aimed at applying Omanisation gradually in the construction sector, taking measures to tackle hidden trade and generating 30,000 jobs targeted by the initiative or collecting RO 200 million in annual fees to be earmarked for training by the year 2020.


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