Most of the expat staff working in state-owned institutions are wary of the plan to cut down their privileges and planning to shift back home rather than struggle in the Sultanate.
Thousands of expatriate workers employed by state-owned institutions, which receive 50 per cent or more of their funds from the government, are in a fix whether to continue working in Oman in the wake of possibility of some employee benefits being withdrawn.
According to a decision of the Ministry of Finance, thousands of expatriates and Omani employees working in state-owned institutions have had a number of benefits slashed, to cushion the economy, which is struggling due to the oil price fall.
An expatriate official working in a state-owned institution said that if OMR400 is going to be cut from his salary in the name of benefit slashing, it would be quite difficult to survive.
“Currently, house rent, school fee and health insurance coverage is taken care of by the institution. An annual ticket we can adjust. But house rent and school fee cannot be adjusted. If I am not going to get it, I will leave Oman. Finding a new job at this age would be difficult. However, if we can’t survive here, it’s better to go back than struggle in a foreign land,” the expatriate said.
“There are around 500 expatriates working in our company. The majority of them will leave,” he added.
According to the ministry’s decision, privileges, such as health insurance for employees and family, life insurance, car insurance for staff and family members, loans, bonuses, incentives during Ramadan or Eid and increments not related to employee’s Key Performance Indicators (KPI) will be stopped.
Allowances
Additionally, allowances for school fees, mobile phones and bills, annual medical check-ups for employee and families, provision of private cars for senior managers, annual leave tickets, housemaid allowances, house rents, furniture allowances, credit cards for CEOs, hospitalisation fee and other allowances will also be stopped temporarily.
An Indian expatriate manager working in a state-owned institution said he had not received an official circular so far.
“However, I am totally in a fix. Some of my expat colleagues from other Arab countries are planning to challenge the decision if implemented. I won’t do that… I will just pack up everything and leave Oman,” he added.
“If my office is going to follow all the rules set by the Ministry of Finance, then other than basic salary there will be nothing much left in hand. It would be quite difficult to survive without house rent, annual tickets, health insurance coverage and all,” the Indian expatriate added.
A group of expatriate officials working in another state-owned institution in Muscat said they are waiting for the circular to be issued and will then decide on what to do.
“If our office is going to follow all the instructions put forward by the ministry, then it would be quite difficult to survive. There are only a few expatriates in this institution. We won’t be able to adjust with the halt in benefits. This is the hot topic for discussion in our office. Everyone is in a dilemma,” the expatriate officials said.
Source: TimesOfOman