Shura Council hosts Minister of Labour, discusses Tenth Five-Year Development Plan

Muscat: In its seventh session of the third annual convening of the Tenth Term, the Shura Council hosted His Excellency the Minister of Labour to discuss five key pillars of the Ministry’s strategy under the Tenth Five-Year Development Plan. These included labour policies and programmes, regulatory frameworks for public and private sector employment, job creation and employment, training and qualification, and digital transformation and inter-agency integration.

His Excellency highlighted a comprehensive suite of employment initiatives and Omanisation programmes that have yielded high-quality job opportunities and enhanced the stability of the national workforce across sectors. A cornerstone of this strategy is the establishment of a national labor database, electronically linked with various institutions, to support strategic workforce planning and ensure cohesive government efforts.

The Ministry has launched 16 strategic programmes under the Tenth Five-Year Plan, aligned with three national priorities: education and research, labour market and employment, and governance of the state administrative apparatus and resources.

Key highlights from the Minister’s address include:

- Doubling of private sector employment support from OMR 50 million to OMR 100 million.

- Wage support initiative targeting 15,000 new jobseekers, offering OMR 200 monthly for two years, with employers covering any salary difference.

- Training-for-replacement program offering 50,925 training opportunities linked to employment from 2021 to October 2025, with 133 approved training programs.

- Labour dispute resolution: 25,143 complaints resolved through the Labor Negotiations and Dispute Resolution Department, and 10,197 cases settled under the judicial system reform program.

- “Tawteen” platform: 3,535 registered establishments, 2,089 job postings, and over 173,000 users competing for 10,122 announced opportunities.

- “Murasid” platform: 67 beneficiary entities and 108 users leveraging labor market data analytics.

- “Khuta” platform: 40,474 registered users and over 70,000 visitors, offering 852 academic programs, 115 professional certifications, and 100 training courses, benefiting 2,465 youth.

- Employment initiatives such as “Sahem,” “2,000 Contracts,” and “One Million Hours” have supported 8,273 beneficiaries across 95 public and private entities.

- Performance improvement: The “Ejada” performance measurement system saw an 87% improvement in implementation safety in the second half of 2025 compared to the first half.