Omanization program has created more than 64,000 jobs for Omanis last yea Gulf countries have been historically dependent on expatriate workers to power their economies.

DUBAI: Oman’s efforts to provide employment opportunities for its citizens both in the private and public sectors have resulted in the creation of more than 64,000 localized jobs last year.

These positions became available to Omanis after the country’s Ministry of Manpower implemented a visa ban on expatriate workers involved in 87 professions including information systems, accounting and finance, sales and marketing, administration, human resources and insurance.

The visa ban, implemented at the end of January last year, resulted in the hiring of 64,386 Omanis in private sector companies and establishments and 4,125 more in government agencies, a Times of Oman report said.

Gulf countries have been historically dependent on expatriate workers to power their economies; with a 2013 study indicating as much as 71 percent of Oman’s labor force are non-nationals. In Qatar, expatriate workforce was as high as 95 percent while in the UAE it was 94 percent; 83 percent in Kuwait; 64 percent in Bahrain and 49 percent in Saudi Arabia.

The Gulf states have since launched job nationalization programs to absorb more of their citizens into the labor force, as well as address high levels of unemployment.

Between December 2018 and November last year, a total of 60,807 expatriate workers have left Oman’s labor force or an equivalent 3.6 percent reduction in their numbers, which now stands at 1,734,882.