The Labor Ministry’s deadline of July 7 for ‘all women staff’ in shops dealing exclusively with women’s wear and accessories including lingerie, garments, abaya, cosmetics and perfumes, has placed hundreds of owners of such shops in a piquant situation since they are unable to find a Saudi women work force.
In an effort to facilitate the employment of Saudi women, the ministry had initially set Jan. 15, 2011 as its deadline for shops dealing in women’s lingerie to replace all male sales staff with women. The move failed as most shops were unable to implement the rule. Subsequently, the ministry issued directives mandating that shops dealing in any kind of women’s wear replace their male sales staff with women by July 7, 2013.
The business community, however, has been persistently asking the Labor Ministry to review its decision to employ Saudi female sales staff in shops. Mohammed Sultan Al-Shahri, president of the textiles and garments subcommittee at the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI), said the traders had sent numerous requests through the JCCI to the ministry to review and study its decision.
Speaking to Arab News yesterday, Labor Ministry spokesman Hattab Al-Anazi said the ministry had a long-term strategic plan for the recruitment of Saudi women in women’s wear stores and that Assistant Secretary of Labor Ministry Fahd Taqifi is responsible for the implementation of the rule in the Kingdom.
Many large and medium-level shops located in upmarket shopping malls have been recruiting female personnel and terminating the services of salesmen. The ministry’s decision to ensure female staff in women’s wear shops is also being vigorously implemented by the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice.
Hasan Murad Amin, a Bangladeshi expatriate who was working as a salesman in a lingerie shop in a popular shopping mall in Jeddah for over six years, said that several shops located in malls were recruiting Saudi women. “My services were terminated following this drive and I am now working in a dry fruit shop,” he said.
Finding Saudi women to work in this sector is by no means an easy task for business establishments since they all work in two shifts, morning and evening. Women find it extremely difficult to work in two shifts as transportation and family needs are major concerns for them.
A leading garment store in Jeddah, which boasts of having the largest collection of women’s wear and accessories, has employed some female staff, but they are shown only on the rosters and payrolls. One hardly finds any saleswoman at the shop floor.
Another leading women’s garment store in Safa district in Jeddah has only expatriate male staff. There are some saleswomen but the business activity is mostly taken care of by the men.
The general perception is that Saudi women take up jobs in these stores, but they fail to meet the requirements of an average salesgirl. Business owners claim that Saudi women not only lack negotiating and bargaining skills, they also do not put in efforts to make a customer purchase the products. Then there are some women who take up such jobs only to leave them when they find other employment that suits them.
Despite several difficulties, major shop owners, specially branded ones, and shops located in malls are implementing the ministry’s rule. The hard hit, however, are owners of small enterprises, which are mostly run by expatriates.
Abaya production is another sector that is dominated by expatriates — from sewing to sales. The tailoring jobs are taken up by expats from South Asian countries, but when it comes to embroidery work, it is completely dominated by craftsmen hailing from the state of Uttar Pradesh in India. The shops, themselves are run by Bangladeshi expatriates.
The Labor Ministry is making all efforts to bring in Saudi women in the abaya sewing and embroidery sector but have met with little success since there are no Saudi craftswomen who are interested in the job. Most of the abaya production units, which are located in Dammam are now shifting to neighboring Bahrain.
Located in Balad and Sharafiah in Jeddah, Batha in Riyadh and Seiko building area in Dammam, the vast majority of abaya shops are found in narrow lanes, with some shops measuring just five square meters, making it difficult for even one person to go in. Most of the time, salesmen stand in front of shops and solicit customers.
Mohammed Faruq, an abaya shop salesman in Balad, said: “I heard that abaya shops should only have Saudi women, but we have not faced any problem so far.”
