Over 1,500 SMEs apply for jobseeker employment-based training initiatives

Muscat: As many as 1,511 applications were submitted by small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to benefit from an initiative to employ jobseekers through on-the-job training.

The Authority for Small and Medium Enterprises Development (ASMED), which launched the initiative in favour of both SMEs and jobseekers, approved 627 applications and is studying 884 ones.

ASMED urged interested SMEs to come forward and register for the initiative—the second of its kind—which lends support to the receiving side as follows: 100% payment of jobseekers’ salaries for a period of one year, with Bachelor’s degree holders getting RO 500 a month, holders of university diplomas RO 400 a month and General Education Diploma (GED) holders RO 300 a month.

The initiative seeks to empower young, qualified Omani youths to get on-the-job specialist training and enable them for further employment opportunities.