The unemployment rate among women soared to 21 percent, according to government statistics last year. A recent study shows that there are 92,000 women working in Riyadh representing only six percent of the total work force. The study showed that the greatest percentage of unemployed female workers is in the 30-39 age group of whom 97.6 percent are unemployed.
Dr. Ghazi Al-Gosaibi, the minister of labor, sees many reasons for the recent rise in unemployment among women. He thinks the reason is both the increase in the numbers of female graduates and of women chasing the limited chances for the available jobs.
“There are also social reasons why many women are unwilling to travel to places where there are suitable jobs for them,” the minister said. “Women have their unique status in our society. They are half of our society and they participate in the development process.”
He feels that they have an important role in the family and also in economic development. “Women are part of society and also part of the national work force. The Ministry of Labor is greatly concerned with female employment issues and expanding women’s job opportunities into other fields.”
Dr. Al-Gosaibi looks at the unemployment problem as a national one affecting both men and women. “We need to solve this problem so all job-seekers will be able to find jobs that guarantee them a secure future and give them the opportunity to participate in national development.”
He pointed to procedures and policies, announced soon after he took office, directed at solving the employment problems faced by both males and females.
After the ministry’s decision to open women’s sections in government buildings, what steps had been taken by the ministry to implement this decision? Dr. Al-Gosaibi explained that moves were under way, but that it took time to provide the appropriate environment for women and also to find buildings to accommodate both the people and the service.
“We also need to train new employees before they are permanently appointed,” he said, adding that only a year has passed since the decision was announced. “There will be coordination between this ministry and other ministries involved to open these branches by the planned date. There is inevitably a gap between issuing the decision and enforcing it because of social and government procedures. For minimizing the time between announcement and implementation of the new expansion of female employment in the government sector, the ministry is trying to open channels with the private sector to strengthen cooperation between both sides.”
When it comes to balancing the equation between increasing Saudization and reducing the numbers of non-Saudi workers, Dr. Al-Gosaibi sees no contradiction in being fair to expatriates. “The meaning of being fair to the foreign work force is to protect them from the bad treatment they sometimes get from their sponsors,” he said. “This poor treatment gives Saudi Arabia a bad image.”
He sees the way forward as ensuring that foreign workers arrive through legally constituted channels and addressing the problem of overstayers who search for jobs and attempt to buy work visas. He believes strongly that the treatment expatriate workers receive from sponsors should be fair and according to the best traditions of Saudi culture; they should be paid on time and paid their end-of-service bonus before they leave the country.
Training, Dr. Al-Gosaibi thinks, is the underlying strength of employment. Training alone, however, does not guarantee that the unemployment problem will be solved, either for males or females, because there are multiple reasons for unemployment. “In order to overcome those reasons, we must first define them and then plan and execute appropriate ways to solve the problems.”
As for problems facing the employment of women, Dr. Al-Gosaibi believes that there are solutions. “The solutions are evident in the many steps and procedures taken by the Council of Ministers to increase the chances of female employment,” he said.