The obstacles Saudi women overcome to find work (the only place in the world women are nt allowed to work and drive)

A girl who needed a job came (to us) with her father. Her family was in need of the money but her father did not want her to work," recalls Jamal Al-Mansour, co-founder of Saudi online job portal Glowork.

A determined Mansour begged for her father’s permission to interview the girl in his presence. The father agreed – and was won over to such an extent that he gave his daughter the permission she needed to work.

Here, employers at Glowork's Step Ahead recruitment fair share with us their stories of women overcoming social and legal challenges to get jobs and careers.

Anwar Al-Swain, a Glowork recruiter, also speaks of a Saudi woman determined to find work despite her husband’s disapproval. The woman eventually filed for divorce and, with custody of her children, got a job - with Glowork's help - to support her family.

Attitudes in Saudi Arabia to working women are changing fast, in no small part due to ongoing reform by the Ministry of Labour.

The kingdom has a huge number of highly educated women: 57% of all women in the kingdom have university degrees but 78% of graduates remain unemployed.

The working woman in Saudi Arabia – the only country in the world where women cannot drive - has to spend up to 30% of her salary on hiring a driver.

This year the Saudi government elected 30 women to the Shoura Council – subsequently a petition was presented to the council, signed by some 3,000 people, requesting the council debate the issue of allowing women to drive.

As the Nitaqat Saudisation programme comes into effect, requiring companies to hire 10% Saudi nationals, the Ministry of Labour has created new opportunities for women to work in lingerie and cosmetics shops and as supermarket cashiers. The Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice has aligned with the plan as long as there is a 1.6m wall segregating the sexes.

Despite the conditions and hurdles Saudi women wanting to work face, thousands are still determined to join the workforce as the kingdom witnesses a gradual change. Below is a picture of a two Saudi Arabia youth at the 2012 Olympic event.





Sarah Attar (L) and Wojdan Shaherkani (R)Saudi Arabia made history in 2012 with their first ever female Olympians, Sarah Attar and Wojdan Shaherkani.