'Efforts to raise Omanisation target in construction sector'

Muscat: Shahswar Al Balushi, the head of the Tanfeedh labour market lab asserted that the Omanisation target in the construction sector should be gradually increased by 2020. “For the construction sector, the Omanisation target should be 15 per cent by 2020. Efforts are on to achieve the target through direct hiring and training Omanis for direct employment,” he said.
“It also involves gauging the number of job-seekers willing to work,” Shahswar said.
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Hidden trade
He also said there is a need to address the issue of hidden trade.
“When we presented our paper at the lab, we revealed that the construction sector is the largest employer in the country. We employ around 750,000 people of which 55,000 are Omanis and the rest are expatriates. When we analyse the number of expatriates, the medium and small companies employ half of them and the small companies employ the other half.
“The medium and large sectors, employ 52,000 out of 55,000 Omanis, and the small companies only 3,000. So there is a distortion. Therefore Omanisation in the sector as a whole is below 8 per cent. But if you take the medium and large companies, Omanisation is 16 per cent,” he said.