Oman to replace expats with citizens in 39 new professions

Muscat: The Ministry of Labour has issued Ministerial Decision No. 501/2024, amending the provisions of Ministerial Resolution No. 235/2022, which regulates the practice of certain professions.

Under Article 1 of the new decision, several additional professions have been added to the list of jobs prohibited for expat workers in Oman. These roles are now reserved exclusively for Omani nationals.

The newly restricted professions include:

1, Driver of a truck transporting food and medical supplies (refrigerated)

2, Driver of a truck transporting water

3, Hotel reception manager

4, Lifeguard

5, Tourist agent

6, Travel agent

7, Room service supervisor

8, Quality control manager

9, Quality officer

10, Drilling fluid engineer

11, Drilling supervisor

12, Electrical technician/general maintenance

13, Mechanical technician/general maintenance

14, Drilling measurement engineer

15, Quality controller

16, Aircraft loading supervisor

17, Marketing specialist

18, Ship mooring and stabilisation worker

19, Labor supervisor

20, Storage and unloading supervisor

21, Commercial promoter (sales representative)

22, Commercial broker

23,Goods arranger

24, Flatbed crane driver

25, Forklift driver

26, New vehicle salesman

27, Used vehicle salesman

28, New spare parts salesman

29, Used spare parts salesman

30, General systems analyst

31, Information Systems network specialist

32, Marine supervisor

33, Ship traffic controller 

34, Computer Maintenance Technician 

35, Computer Programmer

36, Electronic Computer Engineer 

37, Electronic Computer operator 

38, Website Designer 

39, Operations Analyst

This decision reflects the government’s ongoing efforts to increase employment opportunities for Omani nationals by restricting the practice of certain professions to citizens.