Saudi Deputy Minister of Human Resources for Localization Eng. Majid Al-Dahawi revealed that 26 agreements have been signed to support the empowerment and training of women in many promising sectors.
In this same context, Dr. Hanadi Al-Hokair, Director General of the Ministry’s Women Empowerment Department, told Asharq Al-Awsat that the percentage of women in middle and senior management positions reached 42.5 percent during the second quarter of 2023.
The officials made their comments during the second day of the Global Labor Market Conference, which kicked off on Wednesday in Riyadh.
Organized by the Saudi Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development, in partnership with the International Labor Organization (ILO) and the World Bank, the three-day conference was attended by more than 6,000 participants from 40 countries, a number of ministers and government officials, a group of leaders and heads of international and professional organizations, and representatives from academic circles.
Saudi Arabia has raised its target for Saudi women’s participation in the labor market to 40 percent by 2030, after increasing the actual percentage from 17 to 35.3 percent, exceeding the goal of 30 percent set in Vision 2030.
Al-Dahawi told Asharq Al-Awsat the agreements to support women’s empowerment cover vital sectors, including energy, artificial intelligence, cyber-security, information technology, tourism, entertainment, and other fields, in cooperation with well-established universities and high-level training institutions.
He emphasized continuous work to implement further reforms and develop programs in the labor market to empower women, announcing a new agreement with the Oracle Academy targeting 50,000 vacancies for new work patterns, including freelance, remote work, and flexible positions.
For her part, Al-Hokair told Asharq Al-Awsat that the percentage of women in middle and senior management positions reached 42.5 percent during the second quarter of 2023, stressing that the Leadership Guidance Initiative for Women’s Cadres, which falls within Vision 2030, played a major role in raising this percentage.
Al-Hokair explained that the Ministry of Human Resources has worked to launch initiatives that support the empowerment of women, mainly the introduction of modern work patterns that include flexible positions.
She noted that as of September 2023, the number of women beneficiaries of this pattern reached about 13,000.
In addition, the Ministry launched the self-employment initiative, which has targeted more than one million beneficiaries.
