JEDDAH: Several Saudi women dressmakers have complained that they are being pushed out of the industry because businesspeople prefer to employ foreigners at lower wages.

Samar Al-Ahmad said that some businesspeople do not trust them even though they are qualified to make garments having completed courses and received diplomas, according to a report in a local publication earlier this week.

“We are given the most menial tasks to do such as measuring. We hope that businesses will employ Saudis. There are thousands of Saudi women out there who want to work in the sector,” Al-Ahmad said.

“I was pushed out of my job in this industry more than once because the workshop owner said that I wasn’t capable of perfecting dressmaking,” said Abela Khaled.

“But I have a diploma and the ability to make dresses and evening wear. The real reason was because the owner employed an expat at a lower salary,” she said.

Khaled said that Saudis cannot work for SR3,000, which does not even cover their transport from home to their jobs, let alone basic needs. Another Saudi woman, Amira Adel, said the government must prioritize the employment of citizens in this sector, and not the employment of cheaper foreign workers.