WHILE the move to feminize lingerie shops is laudable, steps should also be taken to feminize women's tailor shops, most of which are currently run by male expatriates and overstayers. Many Saudi women are anxiously waiting for the Ministry of Labor to issue an order in this regard. This decision is as important as the one the ministry took to feminize jobs at lingerie and other women's clothing shops. Fatima, a Saudi woman who is a staunch supporter of the proposal, told a local newspaper last week that the feminization of women's tailor shops would create more job opportunities for Saudi women and thus increase the number of employed Saudi women in the country. Haifa, a Saudi woman from Makkah, said there are a number of jobless Saudi women who are university graduates with certificates and experience in sewing. She said feminizing jobs in these shops would also encourage more investment from Saudi businesswomen. Women prefer to buy ready-made clothes for two main reasons. The first is that they do not want to deal with tailor shops being run by foreign men and the second is the high prices at shops run by Saudi women. Keeping this in mind, we must ask two important questions: Is there any way to stop foreign men from working in these shops, and how can we reduce prices at tailor shops managed by Saudi women? The answers are with the Ministry of Labor through the adoption of following measures: Halt recruitment of foreign men to work as women's tailors. Grant a grace period of six months to women's tailor shops to find women tailors. Foreigners working in these shops should be issued with final exit visas and replaced with Saudi women who have university degrees in home economics. Coordinate with universities to increase the number of colleges that offer home economics as a major and urge universities that do not have the major to start offering it. Streamline procedures of acquiring licenses for women's tailor shops. Employ female home economics graduates with a minimum monthly salary of SR5,000. These graduates should also be trained by women working in these shops. Organize training sessions, under the supervision of the Ministry of Labor, for Saudi women who have primary experience in sewing and stitching and also those with talent in the field. They should be given a modest stipend during the training period. The Ministry of Commerce and Industry should fix reasonable prices for work done at women's tailor shops. The feminization of these jobs will prove to be a big boost to the process of Saudization, reduce female unemployment, encourage competition and bring prices down.
