Shura committee calls for resumption of job security benefits
Chaired by Younis al Mandhari, the committee met on Tuesday to examine the impact of freezing the benefit disbursed by Social Protection Fund. Members raised concerns about the worsening living conditions of those affected and emphasised the need to resume the aid to ensure psychological and social stability for impacted individuals and their families.
The committee urged relevant authorities to take immediate steps, including empowering governorates and promoting decentralised decision-making in employment and redundancy matters. Members noted that such an approach would facilitate faster, locally-tailored solutions aligned with the specific needs of each governorate.
There was strong emphasis on the need to create job opportunities based on qualifications and professional experience of laid-off workers, alongside implementation of requalification and skills development programmes to support their reintegration into the labour market.
The committee also called for building a comprehensive and regularly updated database of jobseekers and laid-off individuals to better inform national employment policies and future strategies.
Among the proposed measures was amendment or introduction of legislation to improve protection mechanisms for the national workforce. The committee discussed the possibility of allocating dedicated vacancies in government institutions and state-owned enterprises specifically for laid-off workers.
In support of national workforce retention, members highlighted the urgency of accelerating Omanisation. They recommended replacing expatriate-held jobs with qualified Omanis and suggested increasing the cost of hiring expatriates in the private sector to encourage employment of citizens.
Concluding the session, the committee stressed the need for a holistic and long-term approach to address layoffs, beginning with tackling root causes. This, they said, includes overcoming legal and administrative obstacles and establishing a national action plan to ensure employment stability and social justice for Omani citizens.
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