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EDITOR IN CHIEF- ABDULLAH BIN SALIM AL SHUEILI

Expatriates in specialist jobs fall

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MUSCAT, JUNE 15 - Close on the heels of curbs on recruitment of foreign workers, there has been an across-the-board fall in the number of expatriates in different top level positions. According to the latest figures from the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI), foreign employees in different occupational groups have seen a drastic fall during the last one year. While specialists in scientific, technical and human sectors have dropped by 8.3 per cent, principal and auxiliary engineering occupations fell by 7.5 per cent during the period from April 2018 to the same month this year.


The highest fall of 22.6 per cent was in human health and social work activities. Clerical occupations witnessed a fall of 7.2 per cent during the period. Expatriates in financial and insurance activities plunged by 5.9 per cent, while qualified professionals in the manufacturing sector dropped by 4.9 per cent. Similarly, expatriate workers in agriculture, forestry and fishing together witnessed a drop of 11.1 per cent. In mining and quarrying the fall is 9.2 per cent. At the same time, the total fall in the number of expatriates in the construction sector is 12.9 per cent to reach 527,729 in April this year against 556,623 in the same month last year.


This, according to experts, is mainly because more Omanis are joining the sector. According to figures from the Ministry of Manpower, around 27,000 Omanis were appointed in 2019 in the private sector, especially in construction, sales, distribution and industry. These sectors accounted for 58 per cent. “The rise in the number of Omanis in the private sector points to the fact that the nationalisation policy followed by the government is gaining steam,” said Salem al Balushi, a human resources expert.


While the construction sector managed to recruit more than 8,000 citizens, travel and tourism sectors provided six per cent jobs. The logistics sector appointed about 5 per cent. The NCSI figures show that the number of expatriate workers in the government and private sector fell by 3.5 and 4.7 per cent, respectively during the one-year period up to April this year. The total number of foreign workers in the Sultanate stood at 1,766,621 in April this year against 1,787,447, with a 3.8 per cent fall during the corresponding month last year.


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