By Vinod Nair -
MUSCAT — The expatriate working and business community in Oman is going through some anxious
moments following a slew of new measures, including the two-year visa ban rule, implemented by the Ministry of Manpower and the Royal Oman Police (ROP).
Authorities, though, claimed that these new rules were initiated to regulate the number of expatriates in Oman and reorganise the workforce in tune with the needs of local trade and industry.
The new visa rule, which was announced in May this year and came into force from July 1, states any foreign worker who wants to switch jobs within Oman must have the consent of the previous employer.
According to officials from the ROP, the need to furnish an NOC from the previous employer will help understand the kind of relationship that a new recruit had with his old management. But the people Observer spoke to were not too excited about sharing details about their job options with the employers.
Ismail from Sudan, who is a translator at a law firm, said that he will now look for more options in other GCC countries. “It is unthinkable that my firm will let me join a competitor. Even if they agree to raise my salary, I would still prefer a change after a few years.”
Girish Chandra, an expat employee, said, “I have a cordial relationship of 17 years with my employers. I see no reason for them to stop me in case I seek to change a job for better prospects. But the bone of contention is that I don’t want to share details about my new job with them, especially in the initial stages.”
Kishore who has been working with a travel agency for almost a decade was planning to look for new job options following the end of his two-year contract later this year. “No I have to rework my plans because I doubt whether my employer will furnish me with a no-objection certificate or not. Also, if they do agree to provide one, I am not sure what type of conditions they will put forward.”
P Chandrashekar, group general manager, Jawad Sultan Group, said, “The mobility/transfer of employment that was freely available to the expatriate staff is now restricted due to the introduction of new visa rules. However, it is too early to assess its impact since these are early days. But, demotivation can set in where the employee, not happy with the current job finds it difficult to move and take up a new assignment.”
Expatriate businessmen, especially those involved in shipping and logistics services, are going through a phase of transition with the relocation of commercial services to Sohar from Muscat.
Joy has been running a shipping and logistics services business from Muscat. He said that with the port operations shifting to Sohar, I have to rearrange my strategies because my business was well-established in the capital.
“I am now forced to travel to Sohar at least once a week because the core activity has shifted there. “Also there are a few teething problems, which make me shuttle often between the two cities with a distance of around almost 200 km and more.”
Ashraf who runs a cargo operation said that running business during this period of transition from Muscat to Sohar is very difficult. “Do not forget that we have to pay minimum wages as mandated by the government, which is also difficult with business travelling in the south bound direction.” But he said that, as of now, there are no plans for some extreme measures. We are hopeful that things will look better in the months to come.”
Generally, certain indicators point towards how things will unfold in the months to come and in Muscat it is usually the rush for school leaving certificates or admissions.
Sridevi Thashnath, Principal, Indian School Darsait, said, “I went through the details of the TC cases and did not find any unusual withdrawals. It’s almost the same pattern, but have noticed that there is a huge demand for admissions, which we are not able to meet due to limited availability. It’s indeed a concern for the expat families for which some solutions should be worked out.”
G D C Rao, administration manager at Indian School Ghubra, echoed the same opinion. “There is nothing abnormal and unusual as far as school withdrawals are concerned this academic year,” he said. Other schools also claimed no unusual trends in student withdrawals this year.
Automobile sales executives, who requested not to be named, admitted that there has been a slowdown in sales right through the Ramadhan and Eid seasons. “As we have a wait and watch policy, we expect sales to pick up with the launch of 2015 models by almost all brands in the coming months.”
Advertisements for sale of used cars at throwaway prices have seen a spurt on social media platforms, but again it is difficult to come to a conclusion.
As classified advertisements through social media is just picking up in Muscat, we are seeing more such ads of old and used items online. “Earlier, such advertisements were restricted to popular newspapers, but now that has changed and more free platforms are available,” said Sunil, an auto sales executive.
moments following a slew of new measures, including the two-year visa ban rule, implemented by the Ministry of Manpower and the Royal Oman Police (ROP).
Authorities, though, claimed that these new rules were initiated to regulate the number of expatriates in Oman and reorganise the workforce in tune with the needs of local trade and industry.
The new visa rule, which was announced in May this year and came into force from July 1, states any foreign worker who wants to switch jobs within Oman must have the consent of the previous employer.
According to officials from the ROP, the need to furnish an NOC from the previous employer will help understand the kind of relationship that a new recruit had with his old management. But the people Observer spoke to were not too excited about sharing details about their job options with the employers.
Ismail from Sudan, who is a translator at a law firm, said that he will now look for more options in other GCC countries. “It is unthinkable that my firm will let me join a competitor. Even if they agree to raise my salary, I would still prefer a change after a few years.”
Girish Chandra, an expat employee, said, “I have a cordial relationship of 17 years with my employers. I see no reason for them to stop me in case I seek to change a job for better prospects. But the bone of contention is that I don’t want to share details about my new job with them, especially in the initial stages.”
Kishore who has been working with a travel agency for almost a decade was planning to look for new job options following the end of his two-year contract later this year. “No I have to rework my plans because I doubt whether my employer will furnish me with a no-objection certificate or not. Also, if they do agree to provide one, I am not sure what type of conditions they will put forward.”
P Chandrashekar, group general manager, Jawad Sultan Group, said, “The mobility/transfer of employment that was freely available to the expatriate staff is now restricted due to the introduction of new visa rules. However, it is too early to assess its impact since these are early days. But, demotivation can set in where the employee, not happy with the current job finds it difficult to move and take up a new assignment.”
Expatriate businessmen, especially those involved in shipping and logistics services, are going through a phase of transition with the relocation of commercial services to Sohar from Muscat.
Joy has been running a shipping and logistics services business from Muscat. He said that with the port operations shifting to Sohar, I have to rearrange my strategies because my business was well-established in the capital.
“I am now forced to travel to Sohar at least once a week because the core activity has shifted there. “Also there are a few teething problems, which make me shuttle often between the two cities with a distance of around almost 200 km and more.”
Ashraf who runs a cargo operation said that running business during this period of transition from Muscat to Sohar is very difficult. “Do not forget that we have to pay minimum wages as mandated by the government, which is also difficult with business travelling in the south bound direction.” But he said that, as of now, there are no plans for some extreme measures. We are hopeful that things will look better in the months to come.”
Generally, certain indicators point towards how things will unfold in the months to come and in Muscat it is usually the rush for school leaving certificates or admissions.
Sridevi Thashnath, Principal, Indian School Darsait, said, “I went through the details of the TC cases and did not find any unusual withdrawals. It’s almost the same pattern, but have noticed that there is a huge demand for admissions, which we are not able to meet due to limited availability. It’s indeed a concern for the expat families for which some solutions should be worked out.”
G D C Rao, administration manager at Indian School Ghubra, echoed the same opinion. “There is nothing abnormal and unusual as far as school withdrawals are concerned this academic year,” he said. Other schools also claimed no unusual trends in student withdrawals this year.
Automobile sales executives, who requested not to be named, admitted that there has been a slowdown in sales right through the Ramadhan and Eid seasons. “As we have a wait and watch policy, we expect sales to pick up with the launch of 2015 models by almost all brands in the coming months.”
Advertisements for sale of used cars at throwaway prices have seen a spurt on social media platforms, but again it is difficult to come to a conclusion.
As classified advertisements through social media is just picking up in Muscat, we are seeing more such ads of old and used items online. “Earlier, such advertisements were restricted to popular newspapers, but now that has changed and more free platforms are available,” said Sunil, an auto sales executive.
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