Turn opportunities into jobs

An elegantly dressed young foreigner came to my home driving a luxury car. He brought some items for us from a company. Being curious as a journalist, I asked him about his work and life in delivery service.

He informed me that he worked as an architect in an engineering firm. Before he goes to work at eight in the morning, he works for a delivery company, receiving the items which need to be delivered to customers. After his engineering firm job, he goes to the delivery company again at four and does the same work again. He works till eight or night in the evening or till deliveries are done.

He delivers an average 35 to 40 orders daily. In return he gets 800 baisa per order. But the company takes RO 2 per order from customers for the delivery service. Some customers give him tips. He added that he received an average of about RO 40 per month for this work. This is in addition to his salary from the regular company job.

I wondered what the authorities are doing in e-commerce professions. Why don't we see it as a national project to give jobs for Omanis? This has the potential to become part of a national youth rehabilitation programme. These local youth could be given car or motorcycle loans with work guarantee. There are thousands of Omani youths who are jobless or laid off. There are many job seekers in the public or private sectors. This is not a profession such as of taxi drivers which was Omanised years ago. This profession is more feasible and attractive than that of taxi drivers. If we ignore the changes which are drastically taking place in online shopping, we would fail ourselves. I am very sure that this is not out of the focus of the authorities who formulate policies and programmes for employment of the local youths.

Perhaps the delivery of goods and items of all kinds is the most rewarding profession available compared to other regular jobs. It does not need a lot of qualifications or licenses except for a suitable vehicle to carry orders to customers round the clock.

If we are interested in helping our youth, we should give it some thought. Banks should provide loans to the youth who are ready to opt for delivery work. This profession should be restricted only to the citizens. If done so, it would easily create jobs for thousands with a stroke of pen. Such jobs are increasing every day. It multiplies every year as a result of the popularity of online shopping.

A study was conducted by a logistics firm which revealed that there were 3,000 expatriates working for it. It was delivering 35 orders a day and the return they got was 750 baisa to RO 1.200 per item. It means they got RO 40 per day. This was part time work. If they were full-time workers, they could have delivered 60 orders per day.

Government agencies can look at the data from delivery firms and formulate plans. They can easily understand the size of the market and number of jobs in demand.

There is no dearth of jobs. There are many opportunities available. We must look around and be innovative. We should think out of the box and make the youth economically independent and self-reliant. They need direction and will to work. They would never fail.