Oman has announced major changes to employment laws in the country as it looks to prohibit expat workers from certain roles.
Jobs including web designers, travel agent, hotel reception manager and marketing specialist will become limited for Omani employees.
The announcement came from the Ministry of Labour, which issued Ministerial Decision No. 501/2024, amending the provisions of Ministerial Resolution No. 235/2022, which regulates the practice of certain professions.
Oman expat jobs
The rules expand the list of jobs prohibited for expat workers in the country, with the majority coming into effect immediately.
Professions now restricted to Omani citizens include:
- Driver of a truck transporting food and medical supplies (refrigerated)
- Driver of a truck transporting water
- Hotel reception manager
- Lifeguard
- Tourist agent
- Travel agent
- Room service supervisor
- Quality control manager
- Quality officer
- Drilling fluid engineer
- Drilling supervisor
- Electrical technician/general maintenance
- Mechanical technician/general maintenance
- Drilling measurement engineer
- Quality controller
- Aircraft loading supervisor
- Marketing specialist
- Ship mooring and stabilisation worker
- Labour supervisor
- Storage and unloading supervisor
- Commercial promoter (sales representative)
- Commercial broker
- Goods arranger
- Flatbed crane driver
- Forklift driver
- New vehicle salesman
- Used vehicle salesman
- New spare parts salesman
- Used spare parts salesman
- General systems analyst
- Information systems network specialist
- Marine supervisor
At a later date, between January 1, 2025 and January 1, 2027, the following professions will be limited to Omani citizens only:
- Computer programmer
- Electronic computer engineer
- Electronic computer operator
- Web designer
- Operations analyst
The Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Investment Promotion issued a ministerial decision amending some provisions of the Ministerial Decision No. (209/2020) by updating the list of activities in which foreign investment is prohibited.
The specified business activities in the decision have become exclusive to Omani investors only.
The decision is consistent with Article 14 of the Foreign Capital Investment Law issued under Royal Decree No. (50/2019), which stipulates that “a list of activities in which foreign investment is prohibited shall be compiled through a decision to be issued by the Minister.”
The decision seeks to strike a balance between measures to attract quality investments and encourage Omani entrepreneurial projects.
The government’s support to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) serves as an incentive for Omanis to establish their own projects and generate new job opportunities for citizens.
Any citizen investor can invest in all activities in which foreign investment is prohibited.
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