More women now work in Saudi Arabia as reforms move apace
Despite the inevitable pushback from religious conservatives, and the usual pay disparity, working women now make up a third of the labour force
Saudi Arabia — It looks like a woman’s world on the 29th floor of Tamkeen Tower, where a call centre for Saudi Arabia’s General Authority for Statistics overlooks the beige sprawl of Riyadh. Past frosted-glass doors, the few men to one side of the room are vastly outnumbered by female colleagues sitting at desks spread across the office.
The scene is the opposite of what most workplaces in the conservative Islamic kingdom looked like a few years ago, reflecting the growing influx of women into the job market. “Look where we were and where we are now,” says Reem Almuhanna, who oversees the call centre’s 74 employees as they gather data on households and businesses...
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