Oman’s government has announced the establishment of a new National Centre for Employment (NCE), a plan to replace expats with Omanis in various sectors, according to Omani media reports.
According to a report in the Times of Oman, the centre – which will come into effect on January 1 2020 – will open branches in various parts of Oman to suggest qualified Omani jobseekers for various positions before the Ministry of Manpower approves requests for labour permits to fill positions.
The move means that if a company files a request for an expat visa, the centre will first determine whether there are any qualified Omanis to fill the roll.
“The idea of the National Centre for Employment is not new and has been suggested on more than one occasion of the past years,” said Mohammed Al Busaidi, chairman of the Youth and Human Resources Committee of Oman’s Shura Council.
Al Busaidi added that the “centre is not a goal in itself”.
“What is important to us is the composition of the centre, its powers, its management, and its financial and human resources,” he said. “We hope that the centre will be integrated and not just another institution within the state institutions or just another experiment to deal with the issue of jobseekers after previous experiences.”
The newspaper report notes that the centre will also provide work counselling servies for Omanis, and will coordinate with SMEs to help them find employees and give them access to databases of potential employees.
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