The GCC Situation

The GCC Situation



The sultanate of Oman is country famous for its richness in oil and to the Indians esp., a land to make a living. Oman has four type of terrains mainly : the barren desserts, the jabals (mountains), the fertile land, and the amazing beaches.
Well let us get straight to the situation.

Omanisation : the most common word you would see in the newspapers since 2001. The word that every expatriate fears, well except the Europeans and Americans. (It never seems to apply to them). So what is it all about?

The GCC countries had come up with a New Year resolution of some sort, to increase the employment of the nationals simply by firing the currently employed international employees (mainly south east Asians). That means forceful law to have a fixed number of employees in each “PRIVATE” organization, and at high salaries. Though at a very small rate, the number of people losing their jobs has increased and never seems to stop.

Is this all going for the good? Or is it senseless?
Let us be a diplomat here and look at it from both points of view:

The expat point of view:

1.Loss of their livelihood (for some, it’s been more than 30 years of employement)
2.Returning to their homelands with no backup income
3.The returns not gained for the money spent for getting the Visa, driving license, and pleasing their Arab sponsors ( these amount up to more than Rs. 1 Lac)
4.Omanisation means difficult communication with the employed nationals (as they are not fluent in English)

The GCC point of view:

1.Have to increase the national employment count
2.Currently, most of the money is outsourced to foreign countries
3.Nationals have to start taking up important roles in different fields/trades/technology
4.Development of the country in the fast paced world

Feel free to add more of your view points on to these, and do let us know.

Remember, what do you stand for? The rapid and forceful firing of the expats … or the govt. which is ready to take any action for its development.