Omanization
Introduction
Omanization is a policy enacted by the government in the Sultanate of Oman in 1988
aimed at replacing expatriate workers with trained Omani Personnel (DeFlumere, 2010).
That mean, it is a control method for expatriates working in Oman to avoid the many
social, political and economic situations. Today, expatriates are working in various
sectors, such as household (baby sitting and housemaid), business (various industries)
and in public sector (as professionals), as well. However, the government in Oman is
more concerned about those expatriates who works in the private business sector
because they represent about half of Omani population, now-a day. Therefore, the
legislations are set to control the expatriates high percentage in the private
organizations. Which means that the Omani government enhanced its efforts to achieve
a high Omanization level in the private sector since 1988. Remarkable figures show that
Omani society has benefited from this trend in the last few years.
This paper will list many points related to this issue, including: the legislations in the
Omani labor law, the importance of Omanization for the society, the statistical aspects
of Omani and Expatriate Workforce, Omanization and recruitment practices,
Omanization and Gender and finally the conclusion.
The Omani Labor Law
The Omani labor law is mainly set to organize the internal and external employment in
the private sector. Since Omani native population is relatively low, it was necessary to
prohibit the expatriates from working in some jobs that can be run by Omanis.
Therefore, the Omani labor law has restricted bringing external employment to the
Sultanate, lately. In Article 19, the Omani Labor Law has stated that expatriate:
3. Must possess technical qualifications or abilities which the country needs, and
which are not available among citizens of the Sultanate or where the number of
Omanis is insufficient to meet the demand
4. Must have a contract with an Omani employer or with a non-Omani employer who
has obtained clearance as stipulated by regulations no. 5 of 1972 governing the
Investment of Foreign Capital
The Sultanate has set “quotas” of Omani workers that should be reached in each
economic industry. Ministry of Manpower in the Sultanate has required each
establishment in each economic sector to achieve a specific percentage in its Omani
employment. The following are examples of Omanization levels needed from the private
business to achieve.
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Transport, storage and communications - 60%
Finance, insurance and real estate - 45%
Industrial - 35%
Hotels and restaurants - 30%
Wholesale or retail trading - 20%
Contracting - 15%
Ministries and Public Organizations are extremely requested to employ Omani people.
Today, many of the government ministries have already reached 100% Omanization.
Other Public Authorities, such as Omantel, Oman Air and other public organizations
have already reached high Omanization percentage.
The government in the Sultanate gives high incentives to those companies achieving
high Omanization parentage. For example, companies which reach their government
mandated goals are given a "green card". By having a green card, the company is
entitled to receive a “press attention and preferential treatment” within the Ministry of
Manpower and Ministry of Commerce and Industry, which means more facilities that
would help private organizations their investment and contracts with the government.
Importance of Omanization Process for the society
Nationalization process is adopted in many countries all around the World. Even in the
rich GCC countries, this process is currently widely-applicable. For Oman, Omanization
is very important for many reasons. Besides ensuring low unemployment rates for
Omani citizens, Omanization allows Oman to be self-reliant in human resources by
decreasing dependency on expatriates (DeFlumere, 2010). It enhance the training
programs through expanding vocational institutes and colleges. The government
focused in training and human resource development, which is a real investment for the
national economy. Therefore, Omanization process has several benefits for Omani
society.
The Statistical aspects of Omani and Expatriate Workforce
The National Center for Statistics and Information in the Sultanate shows that the
number of expatriates in Oman has jumped from 250,000 (25%) in 1993 to 2,019,769
people, representing 45.5% of the total population of the Sultanate in May 8, 2016.
However, in February 2016, number of expatriates who work in the Sultanate were
about 1.73 million compared with 210,272 Omani workers in the private sector.
These figures ensure the need of a strategic plan to control the expatriate number in
order to manage the demographic situation of the Sultanate. Many Omanis are
graduated from universities, college and vocational training institutes each year needs
jobs. Priority should be giving to them. Hence, Omanization plans should be reviewed
from time to time.
Omanization and recruitment practices
Omanization is a process of replacing expatriates who work in Oman with trained
Omani personnel to achieve specific demographic and economic objectives in the
Sultanate. The implementation of this process came after the 1988 national statistics of
the Sultanate shows that expatriates ratio was increasing very high. Therefore, adopting
this strategy has come up with a successful result for the Omani economy. By the end
of 1999, the number of Omanis in government services exceeded the set target of 72%,
and in most departments reached 86% of employees, according to the National
Statistics Center in Oman. The Omanization process was also gradually applied for the
private sector in the Sultanate. Today, most Companies in Oman are requested to
register Omanization plans at the government. Since April 1998, the Ministry of
Manpower has been awarded a Green Card to those establishments who meet the
Omanization target plans.
There were many seminars and workshops conducted aiming to enhance the
Omanization strategy’s implementation. During his visits to governorates and Wilayats
after 2003, HM the Sultan approved the recommendations of Public seminars to give
incentives to Omani investors and small companies to positively participate in the
Omanization Strategy. There are many career fairs held at the Oman International
Exhibition Centre and other places targeted young Omanis to join private companies as
trainees and join work within these companies after completing the program periods.
Beside the ministries in the sultanate, many other public and private organizations has
played pioneer role to enhance Omanization tendency. For example, Central Bank of
Oman (CBO) has supervised the progress made by the commercial banks with
Omanization. In July 1995, CBO has issued a circular stipulating that by the year 2000,
at least 75% of senior and middle management positions should be held by Omanis. Oil
and gas companies in the Sultanate has offered many positions for Omani staff in the
last 10 years. Many other companies, such as Zubair offer to be an incubator for new
established small Omani establishments by providing them the consultancy and funds.
Although the Sultanate has succeed to employ more than two hundred thousands of
Omanis in the government and private sector, the ratio of expatriates in the total
population of Oman has also increased. This cannot be referred as a failure for the
Omanization strategy. There are also many other factors that make this ending
conclusion. The most considerable effect was the boost in the national and international
economy in the previous years. Therefore, the focus of the Omani government to train
the citizens to accomplish work that was previously practiced by expatriates was
successful. In another word, the intensive training urged by the government allowed
Omanis to improve themselves by wisely investment in human resource that benefit
present and future generation.
In general, Omanization has reduced the unemployment level and increased the
national income for Omani families. Combined efforts by various public and private
organizations has participated positively in reducing the poverty level and increasing the
value added in the nation. It also raise the social responsibility among the large private
corporates to develop and build public projects or help small Omani establishments to
grow up.
Omanization and Gender
Oman is a modern Country, where gender equality is widely respected. In the new era
of HM Sultan Qaboos, the State Statute promoted the gender equality as one of the key
principles of the societal organization since the early 2000.
Public organizations in Oman has a clear definition for gender equalities when applying
to national recruitment. For example, in the public organization, gender equality is
strictly applied by Ministry of Civil Services when having applicants from both genders
competing for public jobs. Theoretically, both men and women can apply and be
accepted for similar jobs. However, there are some jobs considered to be suitable only
for men who are capable to handle in extreme situations, such as military, police and
guard positions. Although, women has started to enter these jobs lately.
In the private sector, gender equalities is also explored in most positions. However,
there are more restrictions for certain jobs that require hard working capability. Male
workers are only required when announcing for vacancies in specific hard-working jobs.
Though, there are many examples where male workers are preferred in business
sector, such as those of manufacturing activities, oil field operations, welding, melting
and other hardly-considered jobs for ladies. This situation exist because business
organizations in Oman are seeking to increase its profitability by increasing own laborefficiency. Variation in effectiveness and efficiency can be noticed based on gender
type. In field operations and in hard-manufacturing activities, men are more effective
than women. Whereas, in other jobs, such as nursing, clerical positions and education,
women are more efficient and have more patience than men.
On the other hand, depending on Omanis as an essential workforce would require
Omani ladies to be widely-involved in both public and private sector activities. This
mean a recognized increases for their role in society. Thus, this has placed Omani
ladies on the road to equality. In high educational institutes, Omani females are now
exceeding male in many colleges and universities. Moreover, many Omani females are
available in civil society organizations, such as lawyers and prosecutors which are
crucial for a healthy society. Oman has also two female ministers for education and high
education and other secretary general or ambassadors. Therefore, Oman was the first
country in the Arabian Peninsula who have women in the highest position in the
government.
In general, intended Gender Discrimination in Oman is very limited. That mean the
Omani society allow the females to compete and enter most vacant jobs in public and
private sector. However, some jobs needs certain capabilities that gender equalities
cannot be widely-applied. That is for the benefit of the Omani women.
Conclusion
Omanization is a process of replacing expatriates working in Oman with trained Omani
staff to achieve high percentage of employment in the country. The implementation of
Omanization process started from 1988 after the National statistical Office declaration of
its alarming statistics regarding the expatriates ratio with respect of the total population.
Allots of efforts has been imposed to enhance this policy since then. The Sultanate has
succeed to employ a large number of Omanis in the government and private sector.
However, the ratio of expatriates in the total population has increased also as a result
for the economic boost in the country in the previous years.
Therefore, the focus of the Omani government is to train the citizens to accomplish work
that was previously practiced by expatriates. This training allowed Omanis to improve
themselves by wisely investment in human resource that benefit present and future
generation.
References
DeFlumere (2010). “Fighting Globalization: Omanization”. Vinnie Ferraro's World Politics Class.
https://www.mtholyoke.edu/~deflu20a/classweb/omanization/index.html. accessed at: 5-5-2016.
The Omani Labor Law (2008). Article 19.
https://www.mtholyoke.edu/~deflu20a/classweb/omanization/laborlaw.html . accessed at:
5-5-2016.
Ministry of Manpower official website. http://www.manpower.gov.om/Portal/Laborlaw.aspx.
accessed at: 7-5-2016.
Population Clock, (2016). The National Center for Statistics and Information. Sultanate
of Oman. https://www.ncsi.gov.om/Pages/NCSI.aspx . accessed at: 8-5-2016.
Central Bank of Oman official website. https://www.cbo.gov.om . accessed at: 7-5-2016.
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