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MuscatGary
Joined: 03 Jun 2013
Posts: 1364
Location: Flying around the ME...
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 Posted: Thu Sep 04, 2014 8:50 am Post subject: |
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| Whatever will be wrote: |
| Companies are now reporting employees as "absconded" and put a relevant notice into the local newspaper. It then allows them to get a new visa immediately.. |
They've always done that with Indians, Pakistanis etc but not normally with Western ex-pats. |
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CANDLES
Joined: 01 Nov 2011
Posts: 605
Location: Wandering aimlessly.....
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| Posted: Thu Sep 04, 2014 8:53 am Post subject: |
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So now they are treating everyone the same way then! 
Good for them! |
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MuscatGary
Joined: 03 Jun 2013
Posts: 1364
Location: Flying around the ME...
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| Posted: Thu Sep 04, 2014 8:58 am Post subject: |
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| CANDLES wrote: |
So now they are treating everyone the same way then!
Good for them! |
Are you volunteering to live in a labour camp then? Why should Western ex-pats be allowed to live in nice accommodation? At least that's what I think you mean, isn't it? |
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CANDLES
Joined: 01 Nov 2011
Posts: 605
Location: Wandering aimlessly.....
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| Posted: Thu Sep 04, 2014 9:02 am Post subject: |
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| Please read again MG and then you'll understand what I'm saying. Hence the reason for bold characters! |
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MuscatGary
Joined: 03 Jun 2013
Posts: 1364
Location: Flying around the ME...
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| Posted: Thu Sep 04, 2014 9:05 am Post subject: |
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| CANDLES wrote: |
| Please read again MG and then you'll understand what I'm saying. Hence the reason for bold characters! |
You're saying it's good that they're treating everyone the same way. I agree it's good but wouldn't want to be treated the same way as the construction workers regarding accommodation. Be careful what you wish for..... |
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CANDLES
Joined: 01 Nov 2011
Posts: 605
Location: Wandering aimlessly.....
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| Posted: Thu Sep 04, 2014 9:10 am Post subject: |
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| No MG, what I'm saying is that irrelevant of whether one is a 'construction worker, or a teacher', one should be treated like a HUMAN BEING with dignity. No-one should be above and below LAW! |
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MuscatGary
Joined: 03 Jun 2013
Posts: 1364
Location: Flying around the ME...
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| Posted: Thu Sep 04, 2014 9:24 am Post subject: |
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| CANDLES wrote: |
| No MG, what I'm saying is that irrelevant of whether one is a 'construction worker, or a teacher', one should be treated like a HUMAN BEING with dignity. No-one should be above and below LAW! |
Well we agree on this but I doubt that the construction workers or maids are going to be treated well anywhere in the ME. The only changes that are happening are negative ones. |
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Whatever will be
Joined: 05 Feb 2014
Posts: 303
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| Posted: Thu Sep 04, 2014 9:53 am Post subject: |
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It is not so much about " treatment' in terms of basic human rights such as dignity, fairness, equality and respect but much more about profit such as the commission in recruiting a new employee when the visa is freed up in such a way.
The enforcement of stricter labor laws since the 1 July has brought the tactic (of reporting the employee as absconding) from the laboring workforce to the professional sector. For the recruitment firm it means more or less immediate availability of the visa to recruit a new employee and cash the commission.
If you look at my post on the loss of 82 000 visas for expats, you can see that there is a concerted push to reduce the foreign work force fast.
And if you look around Muscat you will see that check out counters at Carrefour and Al Fair are now occupied by Omanis. Same in my local supermarket, where I saw for the first time an Omani male stacking the shelf. On top, the position of the 'grocery bag filler' is gone. Customers now have to bag their own groceries. There are still some Indian workers in the supermarket, who carried the heavy milk crates and boxes of supplies to the shelves and do the cleaning.
I hear from friends in other industries (Petroleum business, Tourism) that some of their colleagues residence visas have expired over the holiday break and will not be renewed. Instead, locals will have to be employed due to the Omanisation of the workforce.
It won't be long until it also hits the education sector.
Time to start looking for another job elsewhere. |
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veiledsentiments
Joined: 20 Feb 2003
Posts: 17644
Location: USA
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| Posted: Thu Sep 04, 2014 2:47 pm Post subject: |
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| Whatever will be wrote: |
| And if you look around Muscat you will see that check out counters at Carrefour and Al Fair are now occupied by Omanis. Same in my local supermarket, where I saw for the first time an Omani male stacking the shelf. On top, the position of the 'grocery bag filler' is gone. Customers now have to bag their own groceries. |
Hardly a huge problem. I've bagged my own groceries for years in various parts of the world, including the Gulf. But actually in Oman in the late 80s/early 90s, all the baggers in the supermarkets were Omanis. Mostly elderly men who sadly didn't pass on their work ethic to their grandchildren.
| Whatever will be wrote: |
It won't be long until it also hits the education sector.
Time to start looking for another job elsewhere. |
This has been going on in the education sector for many many years... as they have slowly educated the locals. As SQU (and the old education colleges that have since closed) has produced the teachers, they have moved into the public schools. In fact, it is part of the obligation for the "free education" that they teach for X number of years. Graduates of SQU have been sent overseas to get advanced degrees and moved into many positions at SQU and the Ministry as they have returned. Nothing new here, and thus far they have moved very sensibly here. I think that will continue and there will still be many jobs available for native speaker EFL teachers for the foreseeable future. (unless they switch to teaching in Arabic)
As to the Omanization of other jobs, they should have pushed this much harder for the last 20 years rather than allowing a couple of generations of young people to think they don't need to work and the government can give them everything they want or need...
VS |
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MuscatGary
Joined: 03 Jun 2013
Posts: 1364
Location: Flying around the ME...
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| Posted: Sat Sep 06, 2014 7:47 am Post subject: |
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| veiledsentiments wrote: |
Hardly a huge problem. I've bagged my own groceries for years in various parts of the world, including the Gulf. But actually in Oman in the late 80s/early 90s, all the baggers in the supermarkets were Omanis. Mostly elderly men who sadly didn't pass on their work ethic to their grandchildren.
I only ever saw Indians doing this job over the past 3.5 years or so.
This has been going on in the education sector for many many years... as they have slowly educated the locals. What!!!! As SQU (and the old education colleges that have since closed) has produced the teachers, they have moved into the public schools. The teacher training course still runs at Rustaq.
As to the Omanization of other jobs, they should have pushed this much harder for the last 20 years rather than allowing a couple of generations of young people to think they don't need to work and the government can give them everything they want or need...VS |
I met a very senior Brit who works for one of the Islamic banks the other day, his bank have had their Omanisation quota set at 90%! The result is that they employ dozens of the so-called 'sleeping Omanis' on minimum wage and let them decide between themselves which day they will show their face each week. Basically it's a sort of stealth tax on business. |
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veiledsentiments
Joined: 20 Feb 2003
Posts: 17644
Location: USA
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| Posted: Sat Sep 06, 2014 2:56 pm Post subject: |
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| Quote: |
I only ever saw Indians doing this job over the past 3.5 years or so.
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As I said... it's a shame that the work ethic of the older generation wasn't passed down to their grandchildren. The expats had taken over the job by the time I returned to Oman some years later... those grandfathers had likely died off.
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This has been going on in the education sector for many many years... as they have slowly educated the locals. What!!!! As SQU (and the old education colleges that have since closed) has produced the teachers, they have moved into the public schools. The teacher training course still runs at Rustaq.
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Are you claiming that there are still no trained Omani teachers? And that all of the teaching is still done by expats in the schools all over Oman? Because I have been told that the majority of teachers are now Omani, at least for the girls. There is still a problem getting male Omanis to go into education. For instance, the two male teachers that I had in one of my last classes at SQU in 1992, who had come out of those teacher training courses, went pretty much straight to the Ministry in Muscat rather than back to the classroom.  Ran into them some years later at TESOLArabia. Not to mention that I have taught with very good Omani teachers over the years.
| Quote: |
| I met a very senior Brit who works for one of the Islamic banks the other day, his bank have had their Omanisation quota set at 90%! The result is that they employ dozens of the so-called 'sleeping Omanis' on minimum wage and let them decide between themselves which day they will show their face each week. Basically it's a sort of stealth tax on business. |
Sad, but must admit that it made me laugh. Where there is a will, there is a way. Obviously the bank can afford to do this, or it would close the doors. Hopefully, one or two of the sleepers will end up a useful employee... eventually.
VS |
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omanoman
Joined: 11 Jun 2014
Posts: 140
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| Posted: Sun Sep 07, 2014 7:02 am Post subject: |
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Many of the contributors here have limited experience with the local community - limited to retail interactions and rumors and speculation about the wider world outside their doors.
There has been a steady increase in Omani teachers over the last many many years and now, almost all of the public school teachers are Omani. Which has created new problems as teachers are assigned to schools far away from their homes. I have neighbors who have to teach 2 hours away and only come home every other weekend to be with their family. Didn't you hear about the teacher strike action last year? No expats involved there I can assure you !
And this idea that recruiters make more money because of the turnover also seems wrong. They make their money off of each teacher employed, usually for each month of salary - the company or Ministry pays them the salary for each teacher, they take their cut and pay the teacher - isn't that how it works? Unless you are direct hire, your paychecks are coming from them not the College, right? If they only made money upon hiring someone new, then when would they make any revenue throughout the year?
And the whole "absconded" picture in the papers. Frankly, I don't know the full reasons behind why some are put there - you see them occasionally but what percentage of actual runners does that represent? less than 5 % I bet of all the blue collar workers - maybe even less than 1%. I am pretty sure that it is not a new 'tactic' available to recruiters to speed up their visa clearances.
Anyway, welcome back everyone! Hope the summer was refreshing for all!
omanoman |
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veiledsentiments
Joined: 20 Feb 2003
Posts: 17644
Location: USA
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| Posted: Sun Sep 07, 2014 2:31 pm Post subject: |
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| omanoman wrote: |
| There has been a steady increase in Omani teachers over the last many many years and now, almost all of the public school teachers are Omani. |
Do you know the situation with the boys schools? Because so few men wanted to teach in them (understandable... it's a tough crowd!!), I heard talk of having women teach there... at least at elementary and perhaps middle school levels.
| omanoman wrote: |
| And this idea that recruiters make more money because of the turnover also seems wrong. They make their money off of each teacher employed, usually for each month of salary - the company or Ministry pays them the salary for each teacher, they take their cut and pay the teacher - isn't that how it works? |
This is part of the confusion between contractors and recruiters - and our tendency to interchange the terms. I believe that this is correct for contractors - who hire and employ the teachers - and then are paid monthly from each salary. So, turnover doesn't benefit them financially in most cases. Recruiters get a fee for any new hire, and then they are out of the picture. So, for them, turnover is a good thing, but they can only affect that by sending them lousy teachers.
| omanoman wrote: |
| I am pretty sure that it is not a new 'tactic' available to recruiters to speed up their visa clearances. |
As long as there have been expat workers and newspapers there have been photos of absconders in the paper. It was also true in the 1980s. I have never seen or heard of a teacher showing up there and there has certainly been plenty of absconders. It is certainly nothing new.
VS |
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MuscatGary
Joined: 03 Jun 2013
Posts: 1364
Location: Flying around the ME...
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| Posted: Mon Sep 08, 2014 8:13 am Post subject: |
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| veiledsentiments wrote: |
| Quote: |
This has been going on in the education sector for many many years... as they have slowly educated the locals. What!!!! As SQU (and the old education colleges that have since closed) has produced the teachers, they have moved into the public schools. The teacher training course still runs at Rustaq.
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Are you claiming that there are still no trained Omani teachers? And that all of the teaching is still done by expats in the schools all over Oman?
VS |
Not at all, quite the opposite, in fact one of the biggest problems now is that there are not enough teaching jobs for all the Omani 'schoolteachers' being churned out by SQU and Rustaq. The boys also have a problem passing IELTS at a high enough level to be employed. |
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veiledsentiments
Joined: 20 Feb 2003
Posts: 17644
Location: USA
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| Posted: Mon Sep 08, 2014 2:20 pm Post subject: |
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| MuscatGary wrote: |
| Not at all, quite the opposite, in fact one of the biggest problems now is that there are not enough teaching jobs for all the Omani 'schoolteachers' being churned out by SQU and Rustaq. |
Good.. that hopefully means that eventually they will purge the inefficient and those that are only teaching for the number of years being required by the government. You know that the women will drop out of the job market ... some permanently and some to have babies.
| MuscatGary wrote: |
| The boys also have a problem passing IELTS at a high enough level to be employed. |
I presume that you mean to teach English language classes since the rest of the courses are still taught in Arabic, aren't they? Or have they instituted a more bi-lingual system in the schools? I know that it was being talked about, but don't know if it was ever instituted. That is really what is needed and would eventually raise the level of all. The usual situation with the boys is that if they have good English skills (and/or scores on IELTS), they have better job opportunities outside of education.
VS |
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