The debate about the decision to replace salesmen with women has seen its share of fierce contenders. Reem Asaad, a member of the Saudi Economic Society, set out to boycott all lingerie shops without women assistants. Fatima Qaroob founded the “Enough Embarrassment” campaign, urging lingerie shops to employ saleswomen.

There were also many skeptics, who believed the new rule might result in violating Shariah rules. Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Aziz Al-Asheikh said on Dec. 30: “Employing women in lingerie shops, leaving them to face men and sell shamelessly, will result in more catastrophes than traders and owners of shops should handle.”

The debate resulted in a legal complaint logged by a businessman against Labor Minister Adel Fakeih in an attempt to stop the decision. However, the minister announced this would not delay implementing the decision.

Over the last seven years some companies tried to hire women for sales departments and as customer services employees. These attempts usually failed. Businesses ended up sending the women back home for their lack of work ethics, said a supervisor of a major lingerie brand in the Kingdom, who was unwilling to reveal his name. “Three years ago we tried hiring women for our ladies’ branch in Riyadh. The women lacked experience and would not be punctual because of transportation problems. They were also demanding when it came to days off, because of family duties,” he said. These factors forced the company to close their ladies’ branch. With the new compulsory regulation in effect, the company has forcefully hired women cashiers for all their branches in the Kingdom.

Sarah bin Sahel is the manager of the women’s section at Naomi stores for lingerie, a brand with a long history when it comes to hiring women. She said recognition from the ministry was a plus for them. “The members of the Commission for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice leave us in peace. Also, we can now rent premises at malls. Previously the administrations of malls would make renting difficult for us, fearing our shop might cause trouble. The decision has protected our rights to sell at mall shops.”

Some areas in the Kingdom will take more time to implement the new rule due to social restrictions that make it hard for women to be available as saleswomen at public places. “Jeddah has been a frontrunner in employing women, followed by the Eastern Province and Riyadh. We have also seen shops employing women in Makkah, Madinah and other cities,” said Mohammad Al-Shehri, head of the Textile and Readymade Garments Committee at the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI). Other cities employing women include Taif, Hail, Qatif and Abha.

“Saleswomen lack not only in training and experience. They are also unfamiliar with the market culture,” Al-Shehri continued. “Business owners should be patient with them until the women get used to the market and the work, just like we have been always patient with expatriates who are unable to speak the language and lack experience.” There is a need to train and bring more qualified women workers into the market to satisfy the demand, he said.

In an attempt to bypass the obligation to recruit women, some business owners have added different products to their shops. These include cosmetic products, perfumes and other products that women use exclusively.

While the process of employing women in lingerie shops at malls is going smoothly, it is halted in public markets. “60 percent of the kiosks in public markets are illegal,” said Al-Shihri, “These kiosks are hard to feminize, but we’ll monitor them and complain to the proper authorities.”

Fahad Al-Tukhaifi, assistant undersecretary for the development department at the Ministry of Labor, said the women receive a different training nowadays. They are taught on the job, while they work. Others receive training at the Technical and Vocational Training Corporation (TVTC).

An official there said TVTC had trained 100 women to become saleswomen, accountants, and supervisors. The training lasts for two to three weeks and includes familiarizing the women with the cashier machines, teaching them basic English and other necessary skills to properly deal with customers. The TVTC received up to 30 thousand applications from women hoping to work at lingerie shops.

Now that saleswomen are compulsory at lingerie shops, women can pick and choose between different job offers. JCCI’s Mohammad Al-Shehri said business owners had complained that their saleswomen were taken over by other businesses offering better salaries. The average salary ranges between SR3,500 and SR5,000, half of which is paid by the Human Resources Development Fund (HRDF). The companies hiring are also to offer medical insurance. “We were told the women would up and leave as soon as they could get a better offer elsewhere,” said Al-Shehri. “More women are needed in the job market now.”

Fatima Qaroob, the initiator of the campaign ‘Enough Embarrassment’ said Saudi society expressed a major support to the decision. “Two purposes have been served. The embarrassment was lifted and Saudi women now have a better chance at being employed,” she said.

The public markets have 30 percent of the lingerie shops in the Kingdom, said Qaroob. “We could allocate a specific location at the public market to sell these products. The location can be enclosed and specified for women only.”

When 44 thousands women are now being hired as saleswomen, cashiers, and customer service employees, the men who were previously employed as such may lose their jobs. Fahad Al-Tukhaifi said the development department had not yet received any complaints from Saudi men. “They will be transferred to administrative jobs in their companies,” he said.

Abdullah Dahlan, an economist and a member of the Shoura Council, said that 80 percent of the men working in lingerie shops are expatriates. “Neither the government nor the private sector are obliged to provide jobs for these expatriates,” he said. Even though these expatriates have helped to develop the Kingdom, it is now time for them to go back to their home countries and contribute to developing them, he added. “We want to make clear that we don’t target any particular nationality. We only hope to reduce unemployment among Saudi women,” said Dahlan.

From May onwards, make-up shops will be monitored and asked to replace their male cashiers and customer service employees with Saudi women. The Ministry of Labor has already announced no delay will be accepted. A large make-up shop has offered 500 job opportunities for Saudi women with salaries that can go as high as SR4,000. However, make-up shops will find the changes less demanding as they already sell cosmetics, which excludes them from completely feminizing their shops.

Abdullah Dahlan predicted the decision would lead to the employment of more women in other open sectors. “It could lead to including women in commercial centers, medical insurance, travel agencies, hotels and other services.”

Fahad Al-Tukhaifi said women could already sell abayas, accessories and clothes in different centers, based on specific requirements. When all women related shops would be feminized, a total of 500 thousand women are expected to enter the labor market.

The Ministry of Labor worked together with the Commission for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice to document and deal with complaints from saleswomen.

The ministry assigned 400 observers to visit shops, indicate violators and specify punishments for shops that have failed to recruit Saudi women. These include banning businesses from getting services from the ministry, banning them from obtaining work visa for new employees, or transferring iqamas.

Lingerie shops should recruit only Saudi women when non-Saudi men are employed. These men would be transferred to the passport department and the owner of the shop would be fined. If non-Saudi women are found, they might face deportation to their home countries. Non-Saudi women are not given visa to work as saleswomen.