MUSCAT: His Majesty Sultan Haitham bin Tarik attaches a special importance to the issue of employment of Omani youth. His Majesty has often reaffirmed that youth are the inexhaustible wealth of nations and that youth employment tops national priorities.
In pursuance of the efforts exerted by the departments concerned to provide jobs in public and private establishments and to promote self-employment, it has been decided to create more than 32,000 jobs for Omanis during 2021, among them 12,000 jobs in the government’s civil and military establishments in accordance with the actual needs of different departments.
Also, within the context of the Royal directives of His Majesty the Sultan and as part of efforts made by government departments to find all means to support employment, various employment initiatives have been launched, reflecting the government’s keenness to employ job-seekers and workers who were laid off in the backdrop of the current global economic circumstances that resulted in the shrinkage of the labour market worldwide, compounded by the negative impacts of coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic.
The initiatives provide for the following
1. Generating a total of 2,000 employment opportunities in the government sector on the basis of temporary contracts, in accordance with the actual needs of government establishments in different governorates in the Sultanate.
2. Providing a total of one million hours of part-time work in government establishments in different governorates. The Ministry of Labour will announce formalities and mechanisms for the same.
3. Subsidising the wages of fresh employees in private sector establishments by providing RO 200 towards the monthly wages of as many as 15,000 fresh employees (with the rest to be borne by the employers) for a period of two years. The Ministry of Labour will unveil the formalities and mechanisms of the same in June 2021.
4. Expending cut-off monthly assistance from the Job Security Fund (JSF), to the tune of RO 202.5 for a period of six months, in favour of self-employed Omanis insured at the Public Authority for Social Insurance whose businesses were negatively impacted by the economic situation and those of similar standing. This cut-off monthly assistance benefits a total of 15,000 people.
5. Expending a similar cut-off monthly assistance of RO 202.5 for a period of six months, from the JSF in favour of laid-off Omani workers whose services were terminated in GCC states.
His Majesty the Sultan gave his Royal directives to the departments concerned to speed up the execution of these employment initiatives.
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