34 of young Omanis want to run own business shows survey

2/1/2016 4:10:56 AM

(MENAFN- Muscat Daily) Muscat-

The spirit of entrepreneurism runs among Omanis and this inclination coupled with sustained government efforts to identify and support entrepreneurs can help in diversifying the economy and transitioning citizens away from public sector jobs a study has shown.

According to the Oxford Strategic Consulting's latest Oman Employment Report: Insights for 2016 more Omanis (34 per cent) ranked 'running my own business' as their ideal job role. Similar views of entrepreneurism as an ideal job role were reflected in Qatar (41 per cent) and Saudi Arabia (37 per cent). However the percentage was only 11 among the Emiratis surveyed.

The report suggests employment strategies for entrepreneurs and future business leaders in Oman.

Nearly three out of four Omanis listed money (76 per cent) as the top motivator with challenge (28 per cent) and travel (28 per cent) being the next closest. Yet more than a third of Omanis consider entrepreneurism to be their ideal job role.

The study suggested that the government should provide additional targeted support for budding Omani entrepreneurs including perhaps government employees themselves rather than increase public and private sector wages.

It states that in order to maximise the investment in entrepreneurism high-potential entrepreneurs who actually contribute to employment growth known as 'gazelles' should be identified and supported by the government. Providing seed funding and early support for high-potential Omani entrepreneurs is much more cost-effective than employing the equivalent public sector employees for an entire career.

A further 22 per cent of Omani respondents wanted to be business leaders and 17 per cent wanted to join their family business.

Administration (28 per cent) engineering (16 per cent) and accountancy (16 per cent) were also popular career choices for Omanis.

On this the study suggests that natural business leaders should be groomed for private sector roles by receiving globally recognised professional qualifications such as those from the Chartered Management Institute (CMI) and the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD).

The Oxford study believes that any employment campaign must take into account the actual preferences of Omani job seekers.

Here Oxford's report found that women were significantly more likely than men to consider their ideal role in human resources (18 per cent against eight per cent).

Those working in Muscat were also most likely to consider HR (19 per cent) to be their ideal role.

Omanis working in Sohar were the most likely to consider their ideal role in engineering (21 per cent) while those working in Sur were the most likely to want to join the family business (29 per cent).

The study conducted on December 15 included responses from 300 Omanis in the 16-29 years age group. Fifty four per cent of the respondents were women while 46 per cent were men.

The report was released at the Gulf Talent Advisory Board Fellows' Summit recently in Muscat.

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