Recent studies on Saudi employment trends reveal that women now face significantly better chances at finding employment in the private sector, due to the steady increase in the number of female university graduates over the past decade. Currently, only 5.8 percent of working-age women are part of the Saudi workforce, according to Kuwait Times.
Saudi female workers are traditionally restricted mostly to the education and nursing sectors. With the advent of the Internet, however, an increasing number of Saudi women are starting businesses from their home. Saudi women own and run about 16,390 companies, more than 4.5 percent of registered Saudi businesses.
The strict Islamic code of law is not the only factor inhibiting the entrance of women into the Saudi workforce. The meager employment rates amongst women are also attributed to the lack of vocational training for women as well as women’s low awareness to jobs opportunities.
Abd Al-Rahman Al-Jraisi, deputy chairman of Saudi ministries of trade and industry has stated that two employment-training centers for women have recently been established, and plans for the construction of commercial centers devoted to and run by women are also underway. — (MENA Report)
© 2001 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
