Women account for 38% of all government employees

Saudi women accounted for around 38 percent of employees working in government institutions last year, local media reported through statistics issued by the Ministry of Civil Service.
Some 8,397 women out of a total of 19,129 employees worked in government offices during the past year, while around 7,090 female employees left work at government offices, according to the report.
Latifa Al-Shaalan, a Shoura Council member, said Saudi Arabia has the lowest rate of employment of women in the region.
“Although Saudi females have reached positions such as deputy minister, university director and Shoura Council member and represent the Kingdom in international organizations and functions, their overall contribution to the labor market remains very weak in both the government and private sectors,” Al-Shaalan said.
She added, “Women constitute 49 percent of the total population, and yet they do not represent more than 10 percent of the overall workforce.”
“The Kingdom has the lowest proportion of female employment compared with other countries, such as neighboring Qatar, United Arab Emirates and Kuwait,” she said.
“Job opportunities in the government sector are still limited to women and are concentrated mainly in the education sector and to a lesser extent, in health and social services,” Al-Shaalan said.
She stressed the need for a comprehensive national strategy to open up career opportunities for women, especially in the presence of government bodies that either do not employ women at all or have a very low rate of female employment.
The approval of Saudi females to work as cashiers in women-only stores is a significant step despite opposition, she said.
Investments made by Saudi women account for six percent of the total sum of investment in the private sector in the Kingdom, which grew to SR60 billion in 2012, she said.