I don’t know if anybody has watched the new TV station in town but I know people know by now that this station has succeeded in sucking other stations virtually dry of their skilled and experienced staff.

Net2 is the name of the TV station which is owned by Kencity Media, owners of Oman FM. Information I gathered way before the station planned to start transmission was that most of the staff from TV3 and Metro TV are planning to resign from their jobs to join the new station and here is the confirmation.

I don’t know the figures but I have learnt that most of Metro TV’s staff have crossed carpets to Net2 and a close source from TV3 whom I spoke to also said that more of their colleagues are willing to leave. This, of course, may be information that people already know.

However, I asked why these people are trooping so much to the new station and the answers I received were common to all; “improper treatment at their old places of work”. This may not be far from the truth, because there are only two reasons why a person would change jobs and these are “moving on to a different challenge or moving on to a place where conditions are better”.

Most of them cited the latter as the main reason for moving to Net2. At a point in time, my source told me that some workers of one of the stations had planned to go on a demonstration to demand for better conditions of work which they have been doing on a sober basis for many years but to no avail. According to my source, bad working conditions usually affect those in the technical departments and as a result, the reporters and presenters who form part of the staff, refuse to join in strike actions because they get other financial privileges like “soli” and so feel indifferent. The technical departments make up a very important aspect of running a TV station and the staff there must be treated well.

I wouldn’t say much further since we all know that the success of every company depends on the efficiency of its human resource base. The massive move to Net2 and the eventual loss of staff should serve as a wake up call for some of our older TV stations to improve the conditions of their workers.