Oman is losing hundreds of expatriate employees with niche technical expertise as a result of job cuts reported in several companies due to current economic situation triggered by the drop in the oil prices.
The irony is that companies that are in need of these skilled workers are not able to tap or absorb the retrenched expatriate employees due to some labour rules. “Most of these workers leaving the country are professionals in administrative, engineering or other skilled fields that are still in demand. They cannot be taken into the payroll as they are not issued the release letter by their respective employers,” pointed Hisham Mohamed, Managing Director of a power company.
Although the oil and gas and its affiliated sectors are not performing well compared to the last couple of years, the country is still attractive for business, especially in many new areas and skilled employees are required there, he said. “If a company finds it difficult to retain its workers, and another is willing to take them, they should be allowed to join those places where they are required,” he said. Till 2013, retention concern was high on the business agenda of many companies wanted to keep hold of their top performing employees. Now the concern is how to remove them, opined Raj Mohan, a human resources specialist.
According to him, if local opportunities are open, these workers should be provided with no objection papers so that companies which need their services can recruit them without going overseas to find candidates. “This will help those recruiting companies cut on expenditure and time,” he said, adding, many prospective candidates will not have the right technical and commercial skills to work at top-levels”. John David is a graphic designer, who has been working for printing unit. Now he is losing his job as part of the company’s cost-cutting plans. “I have an offer from other company to design and produce its internal magazine. But my present employer is not willing to give me release on the ground that the company will lose the clearance and cannot appoint a person in the future, if the need arise”, John says.
He is one among hundreds of skilled workers who are leaving the country. Aravind Kale is a chartered accountant with 15 years of experience in an oilfield supply firm. He too has an offer from a finance company, but is unable to pick up the job as the person concerned from his previous employer is not available to sign the no objection letter at the immigration department of the ROP. “With many new areas for growth including tourism, health, mining are being promoted and the government is proactively taking steps to attract new investors, there should not be any dearth of experienced and skilled workers to do the job”, said Martin Joe, a human resource officer with a leading construction firm.
Source: OmanObserver