JEDDAH — As more Saudi women heed the call to join the Saudi workforce in line with the intensified Saudization program of the government, the third edition of an annual roadshow kicked off Wednesday in Riyadh to attract female job seekers and link them to potential employers. It will then head to Dammam and Jeddah on specified dates.
Organized by Glowork — a women empowerment organization that has helped in the creation of thousands of jobs for women — “A Step Ahead' career fair holds seminars with topics of discussion focusing on the women employment opportunities, training and development and unleashing potential.
In an interview with the Saudi Gazette, Khalid Waleed AlKhudair, Founder and CEO of Glowork, said there are approximately 3.4 million people unemployed in the Kingdom — the majority of whom are women. In the last four years, the number of Saudi women working in the private sector has grown by more than 600 percent, climbing by 605 percent from 68,000 to 480,000. “We hope to be part of this change and assist in the growth of women entering into the workforce through the change in attitudes towards the concept of women working,” he averred.
Excerpts from the interview follow:
• Glowork is considered the first organization dedicated to female recruitment in Saudi Arabia. Tell us more about Glowork, its aims and its achievements.
Glowork is an organization that links female jobseekers with employers through various solutions for example we have a system that allows women to work virtually from home, which has helped create opportunities for them in rural areas which won us the award by the Youth Employment Network, UN, ILO and World Bank for best innovation for job creation globally. Founded by a group of dedicated entrepreneurs aiming to bring empowerment to women and increase diversity in the workforce.
Glowork also has a headhunting arm, which conducts the filtering, screening, interviewing and mentoring for Saudi females, as well as operating the largest female career fair in the Middle East A Step Ahead Career Fair.
Alongside that, Glowork initiates key programs that are career development and job creation-centric including workshop training and career counseling. Glowork is working in cooperation with Ministry of Labor and HRDF. Glowork opens opportunities of collaboration and support linking the private sector with opportunities of job development and candidate development to support women's employment as well as launching a social recruitment application very soon.
• What kind of difficulties have you faced in empowering women, whether from sectors or society?
Awareness and readiness of women entering into the workforce was a key challenge. Not from only the women's perspective but acceptance by some families and certain communities. The readiness of the workforce to receive women into previously male-only sectors required alignment be it from the governmental entities and the companies themselves. With that comes skills and experience where 10 to 15 years ago concentration was in certain fields of expertise. Today the local universities offer diverse educational fields, open new avenues of employment and career development for women.
• How does this percentage increase reflect on the Saudi market?
Women's entry into the work force is a great reflection on the Saudi market and economic development. By taking advantage of career and job, opportunities on offer means additional income to the family allowing for a spending power not previously had that is enabling couples to get married, buy homes and start families. In addition, two household incomes and allowing for financial independence, helps stabilize economic development from a community perspective, and money is spent locally instead of being transferred outside.
• How do you empower Saudi women in different fields, not only in the administrative sphere?
Our goal is to help develop skills and the work capacity for female job seekers in elevating their capacity to enter the workforce. Through A Step Ahead Career Fair, we target female job seekers, help identify opportunities and provide the necessary skills development through a six-step program we have developed.
Through the six-step program, young professionals are taken through a series of training sessions, workshops and panel discussion to build their capacity and understanding of the job market and skills requirements needed to enter the workforce.
Companies showcasing jobs are in all levels and the role of Glowork is working with such companies to set the recruitment process and match job seekers with the position. As a platform, A Step Ahead Career Fair is also a research provision vehicle offering participating companies benefits that help them assess the market needs and job enhancement.
Working with the universities and sharing with them workforce requirements is also a key step in the work we do, allowing for development of partnerships and collaborations between the public, private and educational sectors to match the market needs with the studies on offer and training required to equip the candidates with the skills needed.
We are pleased to have key universities and educational institutions taking part in the program including King Abdulaziz University, King Saudi University, Effat University, Dar Al Hekma, Al-Yamama University, the University of Dammam, Prince Sultan University, Princess Noura University, and Dar Al-Uloom University.
Q: How do you raise the awareness of any female job seeker in finding the job that meets her skills?
Participants can expect to find job opportunities that meet their exact skill sets, abilities and interests, and elevate their careers to new professional heights with greater experience and more know-how. Programs and training courses available at the fair's three venues in Riyadh, Dammam and Jeddah throughout April will help them hone their skills, enrich their knowledge, and subsequently boost their chances of employment in countless fields.
The number of participating women which has already passed the 17,000 milestone a whole month prior to the event, is a testament to its popularity among female job seekers, no matter what industry they seek to work in. In addition, we are pleased that A Step Ahead is the venue that brings together the job seeker and potential employer.
Working closely with the HRDF, we have assessed the success of the initiative during the past two years identifying further employment potential from part time jobs, home-based jobs fields and female industry job alignment and training. Moving the fair across the three cities was a key factor to insure that companies and job seekers are able to benefit from the opportunities at hand. The move raises the awareness among the female job seekers on opportunities at hand and their ability to take advantage of all that the career fair has to offer to help them develop their skills.
The career fair in Riyadh will be until today (April 3) at Al-Faisaliah Hotel, then will move to Dammam on April 12-13 at the Sheraton Hotel, and in Jeddah on April 28-29 at the Hilton Hotel.
