Over the past five decades, the Sultanate of Oman has developed a pool of national talent capable of performing various tasks currently performed by expatriates. However, employing this wealth of talent requires a decision from the relevant authorities, particularly those managing commercial, industrial, educational and training activities in the country.
Providing new job opportunities for job seekers in the country, especially for national talent, requires a comprehensive vision that integrates economic, educational and legislative aspects. Offering new job opportunities requires further incentives for local and foreign investment, creating an attractive business environment, reducing bureaucracy, providing tax incentives, developing infrastructure to encourage the creation of projects and strengthening public-private partnerships.
At the small enterprise level, this requires supporting entrepreneurship and small and medium-sized enterprises, providing easy financing for the establishment of business incubators, facilitating legal and administrative procedures for establishing projects and providing free training for entrepreneurs. It also requires that institutions transition to digital work, enable the digital economy, support remote work, promote e-commerce and operate through emerging technologies. This requires accelerating the provision of a robust digital infrastructure and expanding internet coverage. It is also crucial to create jobs in areas such as artificial intelligence, data analytics and information security, in addition to focusing on promising sectors such as tourism, renewable energy, smart agriculture and manufacturing industries; and supporting education and training initiatives in these sectors.
For institutions to be able to absorb national talent, it is important to implement the necessary policies to support employment by aligning educational outcomes with the labour market, developing curricula to include modern digital skills, supporting innovation and linking universities to the labour market through cooperative training.
It is important to provide incentives for companies that employ citizens, monitor the quality of work and skills to ensure the efficiency and feasibility of these institutions.
This should be accompanied by the provision of training programmes for job seekers based on market needs, strengthening social protection laws for workers by providing health insurance and unemployment insurance; and developing labour laws to create a more stable work environment.
Incentive programmes should be created for companies to employ graduates and job seekers, especially those seeking employment and marriage. Wages should be subsidised for a specific period and exemptions from certain fees and taxes should be granted to enable youth to work without any social or financial pressures.
In general, employing national talent, as well as those laid off from previous jobs, requires several factors for the success of these national policies to employ and provide job opportunities for youth, including the need for clear political will on the part of government institutions and the need to involve the private sector as a key partner in these initiatives. This also requires taking advantage of the digital transformation and global changes in work patterns and focusing on developing national competencies, not just employing them.
Today, we must consider how to expand further national investments, both within and outside the Sultanate of Oman, so that these projects are operated by Omani management and competencies. We must implement a policy of employing Omani cadres in a systematic and thoughtful manner, while encouraging and empowering the private sector to contribute to the creation of rewarding job opportunities and changing the culture among citizens that working in the government is better than working in the private sector.
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