Muscat, Jan. 31 (TNS): Oman has imposed a six-month ban on hiring expatriates in 87 different employment professions through an official decree issued recently, reports said.
According to Forbes Middle East, the regulation prohibits issuing work visas for expats in 10 sectors. These include information system, technical professions, airports, marketing, human resources, engineering, media, administration, and insurance and sales.
The oil-dependent country looks to establish more job opportunities for its own citizens to keep a control on unemployment.
“It is a way to make companies put in more effort to look for Omani professionals, as sometimes companies don’t do enough to look for Omanis,” Chief Economist at Oman Investment Fund Fabio Scacciavillani told Times of Oman.
“This may be due to a bias they have for hiring expat workers,” he added.
Last week, Oman’s government announced its updated plan to release 25,000 jobs to Omanis within the next six months. The statement came after a demonstration by jobless workers at the ministry of manpower in Muscat.
