Saudi Arabia continues to realize the key goals set in its Vision 2030 national strategy, one of which is increasing women’s participation in the workforce from 22 percent to 30 percent by the year 2030, particularly through strategic goals that support their economic empowerment and self-reliance.
Today, as part of the Kingdom’s so far two years of efforts, the employment gap between Saudi Arabian women and men has significantly decreased, particularly with regards to governmental jobs, which has seen an almost 13 percent drop this year.
In a report by Saudi Gazette, Hind Bint Khaled Al-Zahid, undersecretary of the Ministry of Civil Service, explained that the gap decreased in the first two quarters of 2019 from 50.3 percent to 37.8 percent, while the percentage of the Saudi women holding government jobs has risen from 39 percent to 40.3 percent during two years.
She also said that the ministry has made significant progress with regards toempowering women and supporting their pursuit of leadership roles within the public sector, particularly through the establishment of a special agency, under the initiative of the ministry, that is focused on women empowerment.
Since the ascension of Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, Saudi Arabia has witnessed more and more women becoming active participants in the development of the Kingdom’s economy and changing face of its society. Indeed, earlier this year, it was reported that the various efforts being made across the board to have a more diverse working population had resulted in around 600,000 Saudi women joining the workforce, a significant change that symbolizes the direction the Kingdom has taken.
