Saudi Arabia's Legal Reforms Help Women in the Workforce

​When Ghadah al Talal started working in the marketing department at Colgate-Palmolive in Saudi Arabia over a decade ago, she was the only woman in the department. In the entire company, she said, "it was [only] me and another girl in finance for a good five years until more [women] came in."

Now, cultural and political trends in Saudi Arabia are changing the reality for working women. Al Talal is currently the head of marketing at Tamimi Markets in Al Khobar, Saudi Arabia, and the difference in the gender makeup of her team at her first job compared to her team at her current job is notable. "Right now, I have a team of 17 people," al Talal said, "of which four of them are male, and the rest are female."

Gradual cultural shifts led to more women working with al Talal, but recently, more dramatic changes have also made a difference. Saudi Arabia's strict guardianship laws—which required women to seek permission from a male guardian in matters of travel, work, finances and more—are loosening, which means new opportunities for working women in the kingdom. This summer, the Saudi Arabia Council of Ministers passed a royal decree that allows women to obtain a passport and travel internationally without permission from her male guardian. The decree also extends employment-discrimination protections to women and allows women to register as co-head of a household or live independently from their husband. Women are also now allowed to drive.

The logistical impact of these decrees is notable. Because women "have been unable to work and haven't had that ability to transport themselves or travel freely, they've tended to stay at home and have their own lives based around social norms," said Bruce Bostwick, business development director at Tamimi Markets in Al Khobar. In the past, even if women were interested in and allowed to pursue certain corporate jobs, the legal hurdles could make it hard for them to get hired.

"You may have to travel for business, you have young kids at home, and you need your guardian's approval," Bostwick said. "Those are things that for fast-paced businesses perhaps have been a disincentive for hiring women. Now that's one less disincentive they have to deal with."

Cultural Shift

Al Talal never felt stymied by Saudi legal restrictions. She went to the U.S. to earn her degree with a full scholarship provided by the Saudi government. "I had my parents' blessings from the beginning," al Talal said. What has made the largest impact on women seeking to advance their careers, according to al Talal, are the cultural shifts within the kingdom. In the past, families and friends often had great influence on women's desire to seek work.

"It starts with the parents," she said, "and their openness to send their daughters or their sisters abroad to big schools to get degrees in different fields. In the past, we had limited fields where ladies could get degrees, but nowadays it goes all the way to all fields, for females and males. … It all started culturally with us."

Al Talal said that the Saudi Vision 2030 initiative, intended to diversify the Saudi economy after a dip in global oil prices, encouraged freedom for women so they could drive and aimed to increase women's participation in the workforce from 22 percent to 30 percent. Women are likely to play an important role in the development of the proposed tourism, retail and leisure industries that are key to Saudi Arabia's goal of diversifying its economy.

"I think since the 2030 vision started … it has impacted a lot of people," she said. She pointed to her father as an example of someone whose views have evolved.

"My dad today is not the same person he was 10 years ago. He's more accepting of the idea of women being out there, getting their own status in the workplace."

Bostwick pointed to recent economic factors that have encouraged women to join the workforce. In 2016, an oil crisis and the conflict in Yemen meant that lucrative subsidies for transportation and other allowances were slashed from many paychecks. These cuts were deeply unpopular and led to a cultural shift that made working more appealing to women.

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Incremental Change

"I don't see a huge change," al Talal said. However, she said that things are different than they were before. "With the changes we see in the country, we do appreciate that we are given the chance, because 10 years ago this chance was never there. I had it, but many people did not. Now it's readily available; it's just a matter of choice. If you have the will and the talent to go and grow, you will have that in Saudi [Arabia]."

Katie Nadworny is a freelance writer in Istanbul.