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Times of Oman
14 July 2014

Muscat: As many as 82,000 expatriates working in the private sector have left their jobs between January 2013 and May 2014, National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI) data reveals.

According to the data, 81,230 expatriate workers have left their jobs. While the number of expatriates working in the private sector was 1,330,089 at the end of January 2013, it was 1,248,859 by the end of May, 2014.

Meanwhile, the number of Omanis working in the private sector and insured and active increased by 3.7 per cent by May-end, 2014, totalling 188,669 employees, compared with 181,860 at the end of 2013.

"The dip in the number of expatriate workers in the private sector can be attributed to the government's intensified nationalisation process. In addition to this, a temporary ban on employing expatriates in the construction sector has been on for the last few months," Sunilkumar KK, a senior official at a construction company, said.

"In addition to this, certain changes in visa rules like the two-year ban and family status might also have led to this situation," Sunilkumar added.

Between March and May, 2,566 expatriates have left their jobs, the NCSI data shows.

Minister of Manpower Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser Al Bakri confirmed last week that there was no change in the date of application of the 'two-year ban' on the return of expatriate workers to Oman.

The minister also said the ministry has linked its data with other government authorities to limit such violations, as well as to reduce the percentage of expatriate workers to 33 per cent, instead of the current 44 per cent. The government will stand alongside Omani entrepreneurs who run their own businesses, rather than having expatriates as the actual managers, the minister said.

According to the NCSI, a decline can be seen in the number of Omani employees receiving basic salary in the range of OMR225-300 while the number of Omanis receiving higher basic salaries has increased.

The NCSI report reveals that the number of Omanis working in the private sector and receiving a basic salary of less than OMR300 declined by three per cent or 3,519 employees, totalling 115,267 employees at the end of May 2014, compared with the December 2013 figure.

The number of those receiving basic salary in the range of OMR300-400 also increased by 6,061, or 23.5 per cent, totalling 31,868 employees.

Those receiving basic salary in the OMR700-800 range also increased by 14.8 per cent, totalling 3,520 employees at the end of May 2014, when compared with the December 2013 figure.

Omanis get better salaries
The total number of Omanis in the private sector receiving a basic salary in the range of OMR1,000-2,000 increased to 6,853 employees at the end of May 2014, representing an increase of 15.6 per cent when compared with the end of 2013 figure, while those receiving a basic salary of more than OMR2,000 increased by 15 per cent when compared with the end of 2013, totalling 2,508 employees.

Regarding the number of employees in the private sector governorate-wise, the report revealed that the Muscat governorate recorded an increase of 2,999 employees or 4.4 per cent when compared with the end of December 2013, totalling 70,692 employees. The second was Al Batinah North with a total of 33,183 employees when compared with 31,500 employees by the end of December 2013. Other governorates also witnessed increases in the number of Omanis working in the private sector with different rates.

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