Saudi Gazette report AL-AHSA — Although they hold diplomas in different fields, some Saudi women who could not obtain jobs that match their qualifications found themselves in a situation that forced them to work as cleaners, Alsharq daily reported Sunday.
Most of these women hail from poor family backgrounds and had to accept such low-paying jobs to make a living. Sheikha Ahmed is one of these poor women who went through difficult circumstances during her study. She was able to complete a diploma course in computer science even though she had to sell her gold to pay for the tuition and cut down on living costs to get by with her children. After graduation, she discovered that the money she paid and the hard circumstances her children and she lived through in order for to finish her study did not bear fruit. She looked for jobs at government agencies and the private sector but to no avail. “I'm a married woman and have kids. My husband works as a waiter and his salary barley gets us by. We have four kids,” she told Alsharq. Ahmed does not mind working as a cleaner. The problem was the Ministry of Civil Service could not create a job opportunity for her. She did not give up and kept searching for a job until she found one. It was a cleaner job and the monthly salary was SR700, Ahmed said. She works for a charitable organization cleaning bathrooms, wiping floors and arranging tables and chairs, all this for a meager SR700. Fatima Saeed holds an English diploma but works as a cleaner at a private hospital, wiping floors and cleaning toilets. Her monthly salary is SR1,500. She says people feel pity for her when they know she holds a diploma in English language. “I come from a poor family and I need this job so badly.” Laila Saud, another diploma holder, faces a similar problem. She could not find a decent job and had to accept work as a cleaner at a public school. She is married and her husband's salary is SR2,000 and both live with their children in a rented apartment. She also takes care of her parents and provides for them.
