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Speaking at the end of December 2005, Ahmed bin Abdulnabi Macki, Minister of National Economy, avowed that creating employment opportunities for Omanis was the government's 'highest' priority, (reported in Times of Oman, 1st January 2006).

He said that 410,000 expatriates were currently working in the private sector of whom 25% were in construction, and 10% in domestic service.

"In 2004, the private sector accommodated a total of 36,928 Omanis while more than 8,000 citizens benefited from self-employment opportunities offered by the Sanad programme," said Macki.

Note that the number of Omanis employed in the private sector was less than 10% of expatriate employment in 2004. And that for the last three years, the total school population for those aged 5-19 has been well over 500,000 (Ministry of National Economy).
The number of jobs on offer must rise by an order of 10 to meet the potential demand.

Development plans aim to provide new employment opportunities for nationals in new gas-based projects, tourism and information technology, as well as encouraging self employment opportunities and businesses by Omanis through programmes such as Sanad, according to the Times of Oman.

Occasional press reports convey promising signs for nationalisation of the job market in Oman. Virtually all food sales shops in Oman should now have been Omanised. The Asian expatriates who used to serve in these outlets should now all have returned home. Not only were customer service jobs Omanised, many of the outlets were completely taken over by Omanis sponsored by the SANAD or self-employment programme.

What we don't know is how many of the shops remain profitable concerns, and how many remain open. What is the actual level of employment?

On 3rd January, the Times of Oman published a piece about the Khaleej Oman Institute, which has recently trained 70 young Omanis, 45 boys and 25 girls aged from 18 to 25, with the cooperation of companies such as City Plaza, Genetco, K. M. Trading, Fairtrade, Towell-Unilever, W. J. Towell, Nestle, Matrah Cold Stores, Thrifty, etc. “After successful completion of training, these young trainees will join sponsoring companies as fulltime employees,” Moyeed Ruhan, KOI manager noted.

Although the Ministry of Manpower has contracted with several training institutes in Muscat and elsewhere to provide necessary training in retail and distribution, the total number of young people undergoing such training cannot be more than a few thousand per year.

Mr Ruhan did say that young Omanis were asking about a wider range of career opportunities now, including auditing, call centre training, and air ticketing, all focusing on customer service.

Oman's most notably successful construction company, Galfar Construction and Engineering, claims to employ 2,600 Omanis, or 25% of its workforce. By taking on another 1,000 people in 2006, that percentage will rise to 35%. A total of 100 new engineers will join the company while 300 technicians, 100 equipment operators, 120 heavy duty drivers and 300 unskilled workers will be recruited. Galfar has its own work training centres (GTC) in Muscat and Sohar which are benchmarked by PDO, Petroleum Development Oman, to international standards. GTC is training welders, masons, steel fixers, shuttering carpenters, auto mechanics, AC mechanics and electricians.

Bahwan, the nationwide network of Toyota dealers and service centres is training Omani motor mechanics.

Compared with the numbers in school, just over 18,000 young people found places at university in Oman or abroad, in technical, training, law and banking colleges, and health institutes in 2004-2005 (Ministry of National Economy)

His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said has spoken repeatedly of the need for young Omanis to be prepared to start at the bottom and work their way up. As Mr Macki said, “The crucial objective of the Seventh Five-Year Plan (2006-2010) is to provide citizens with more jobs” .