87pc jobseekers prefer public sector

Muscat: Employment of the national workforce is one of the importance issues in the Sultanate, and efforts are being made to provide job opportunities in accordance with their education. A study by National Centre for Statistics and Information has found that young Omani job hunters have a big preference to work in the public sector “even if the salary and other incentives are less than the private sector”. The results of the study ‘youth trends and their job preferences and changes 2019’ revealed that 87 per cent of the total jobseekers and 76 per cent of higher education students prefer to work in the public sector. However, this percentage decreased from the year 2015 where 92 per cent of jobseekers and 71 per cent of higher education students preferred the same. Indications show that 37 per cent of higher education female students prefer the private sector if the salary is 25 per cent higher than the government offer, while 21 per cent of female job seekers would prefer the private sector if salary is 50 per cent more. The study by NCSI which targeted jobseekers, higher education students and employed people also addressed the level of the relevance of scientific qualification to the requirements of the labour market. A total of 33 per cent students think that their qualification suits the requirements of the employer, and the percentage grows among employed people to 47 per cent and among jobseekers to 49 per cent. At the same time, 58 per cent of government employees believe that their qualifications suit the requirements of the job market while the rate decreased to 41 per cent among the private sector employees. With regard to gender, women are more satisfied with their qualifications where 54.6 per cent of them compared to 41.2 per cent of males believe that qualifications meet with the requirements. The minimum amount of salary favoured by the majority of jobseekers is RO 674 in the public sector and 593 in the private sector. Currently, statistics show that 54 per cent of youth receive a total salary of more than RO 500. Job satisfaction among public sector employees increased compared to public sector (7.7 against 6.9 points respectively). It also increased among male employees and holders of scientific degrees compared to diploma holders. Statistics indicate that 17 per cent of youth intends to early retire before reaching the legal age compared to 22 per cent in 2015. In all, 9 out of 10 youth believe that the country is responsible of securing jobs to every youth where 92 per cent of jobseekers believe so compared to 82 per cent of employed and 85 per cent of students. With this regard, 4.8 is the average trust on government officials’ statements among employed while it decreases to 4.4 among jobseekers and 2.8 among students.