Ministry of Manpower to suspend foreigner-recruitment
Ministry seeks to eradicate illegal workers as a mode of creating job opportunities for the national workforce
RELATED ARTICLES: Dubai and Abu Dhabi top destination for construction professionals | Indian Embassy in KSA : 1 million workers legalise status | Thousands of workers strike at Oman Airport site Oman’s Ministry of Manpower is reportedly going to suspend the recruitment of foreign workers for six months, beginning next month, as part of its labor market regulation measures. Oman News Agency reported the Ministry will restrict small construction and cleaning companies from employing expatriates until April 2014, at the earliest. The move is also to review the actual needs of the labour force across different sectors. The Ministry seeks to eradicate illegal workers as a mode of creating job opportunities for the national workforce. The Omani government had also said, earlier this year, that it would limit the total number of foreign workers and raise minimum wage for locals as an attempt to increase the employment of its citizens. Foreigners comprise 1.3mn – almost 39% – of the total 3.3mn population in the country, most of whom are South or Southeast Asian workers brought in to do skilled or strenuous jobs in infrastructural sectors such as oil, construction and service industries.
