Saudi women on the move

I was chatting with a relative who lives and works in Saudi Arabia, and the news was all good about the progress of Saudi women in many ways. I am sure everyone heard of the latest developments regarding women being allowed to obtain a driving permit in Saudi, this, after so many years of hope that it will happen.
Along with that also came the government policy regarding the obligation by companies, to give the priority of employment to Saudis, then other nationalities. This helped create many new possibilities for young Saudis to find jobs, and of course, ladies did not leave this opportunity to put to practice what they have been learning in their schools and colleges.

It has been a very consistent pattern, for many years now, to find imported manpower from countries such as, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Philippines, working in the Middle East, mostly doing manual work, vendors, receptionists, nurses, and househelp. Apart from the last one (the househelp), locals in these countries are now encouraged to take over the jobs from foreigners. With the increasing number of the local population, the now lower income from oil and petroleum sales, and the harsh economic times ahead, the cost of accommodating foreign workers is becoming a very expensive exercise.

In Saudi Arabia, for example, the recent labour law forbids the employment of foreigners as vendors in the shops. Our relative said at first most merchants were skeptical about this job, rarely practiced by the local population that is used to being on the purchasing side of the counter, but time prove that the capacity of some staff improved, and some are turning over more income than previous staff.

He then went on to tell us that in his optical shop, he was interviewing some Saudi women to be trained as technicians, one of the interviewed was telling him that in their house, she is the one who fixes broken pipes, malfunctioning household machines and any other manual job, while her brothers were out and about doing other stuff. He then said with a smile that the speed with which she is learning and moving on is amazing, talk about giving women a chance to grow wings!
All this is still done in the conservative way of the society’s traditions while wearing veils. For me having lived in the 1980’s Saudi Arabia, these are indeed good news!