Answers to questions such as why so few Saudi women are employed, what women can do to get employment and what sort of plans are required to effect change need to be found at the forum, said Princess Lolowah while delivering her opening speech at the two-day event.

Speaking about the SR70 billion in women-owned disposable wealth lying untapped in banks, Princess Lolowah, who is vice chair and general supervisor of Effat University’s board of trustees, said “this question needs to be directed at businesswomen.”

“Empowerment of women can only be achieved with the cooperation of the private and government sectors, and the Kingdom’s chambers of commerce,” she said.

Speaking about employing women in the Kingdom’s industries, Nadia Al-Dossary, chief executive officer of Al-Sale Eastern Co. Ltd., said many difficulties exist. “I employ women in segregated offices but I cannot employ women to work on the factory floor, because setting up separate sections for men and women on the factory floor is not possible,” she said.

Al-Dossary added that her company is not a charity; it is profit-oriented and not required to employ women. “We want to train women and employ them in the industrial sector. But we want the government sector to cooperate with us because there will be gender mixing. We have to understand that gender mixing in the workplace is not khulwa,” she said.

Speaking about Minister of Labor Adel Fakieh’s eight-week plan to organize women employment, as announced last week at a two-day event organized by the Khadijah bint Khuwailid Businesswomen’s Center, Al-Dossary criticized the minister saying that despite repeated requests for a meeting during his last visit to the Eastern Province, he failed to show up.

Lyla Ashadawi, president of Asharqia Young Businesswomen Executive Counsel, said that around 54,000 job-seekers arrive in the Eastern Province in search of jobs.

Huda Al-Jeraisy, chairperson of the Women Committee and the Council of Saudi Chambers, said the role of her organization is to link business people with officials. Responding to a comment criticizing the chambers’ lack of support for people with disabilities, she said: “We do not want to expand our task to include social services, training and employment. We cannot master everything.”

Nabila Al-Anjari, founder and general manager of the Leaders Group for Consulting and Training Co. in Kuwait, said women should be open to accept any job that they are offered. “Women should remove the word ‘no’ from the dictionary to achieve success. I was the first woman to establish an amusement park on the beach especially for women in Kuwait. All staff are women and they work from the early morning till midnight," she said.

“Members of the public criticized us but we were patient. I also worked as a general manager of an equestrian club even though I was ignorant of the skills needed to operate such a place. I took the challenge and have been successful,” she said.

Office politics, said Al-Anjari, is one of the main reasons why many Saudi women avoid working. “Office politics is a very dangerous phenomenon and widespread among women. Joining one group of colleagues and ignoring others will affect employees negatively,” she said.

Sexual harassment in the workplace, she said, also deters women from working. “Women should not allow men to compliment them with nice words. They should put up red lines that no one can cross,” she added.

Amal Asaad Sheera, director of human resources at Schindler and deputy chairperson of the Human Resources Committee at the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said Saudi youth, of both genders, are unable to develop the required skills for the Kingdom’s job market. “Most youths refuse to go on training courses for a few months. They don’t have patience. Saudi families should teach their sons and daughters how to build themselves by accepting challenges … Our role as human resources consultants is to be close to young employees, support them and manage their expectations,” she said.

She also said Arab families want their women to be beautiful wives, supermoms, successful businesswomen and excellent at socializing. “Women can’t do all these things together. They need to manage their time and prioritize,” she added.

Both Al-Anjari and Sheera said women should not wait for opportunities, but create them.

During a workshop on how to achieve success by empowering women in companies, Noura Al-Shabaan, president of Ebda’a Exchange Co. and the first female Saudi human resource trainer, said Saudi women are slow to develop and lack cultural awareness. “Women should believe that multiple attempts that fail can eventually lead to success … there are four elements that need to be in each woman to be successful employees. These elements are: thinking, planning, implementation, evaluation and development,” she said.

She added that Saudi students who return to the Kingdom having studied abroad should be utilized to an optimum level.