BRJ backs drive to employ more women

Rola Basamed, director of Bab Rizq Jameel (BRJ) Jeddah, stated that the decision of the Ministry of Labor to provide jobs for women at lingerie and women’s accessories shops would certainly contribute to creating more job opportunities for them in this sector. Basamed said that BRJ’s 24 offices around the Kingdom were coordinating with companies and establishments seeking to feminize their activities as well as cooperating and coordinating with the Human Resources Development Fund. According to Basamed, BRJ branches were conducing hundreds of interviews in cooperation with companies and establishments. She praised the decision to insist on creating the right environment for women through providing security services or other supportive services, saying that the Saudi employees needed to feel secure at their workplace. She added that commitment in salary payment as well incentives that add to loyalty toward the job were also important for women. According to Basamed, a major factor is to make families feel confident that the work environment is suitable for their daughters. This includes provision of transportation to and from the workplace. Basamed believed that women working at shops catering to women would increase incomes for businessmen, taking into consideration that women prefer to buy their personal clothes from another woman, not from a man. The pilot employment processes conducted by BRJ in cooperation with companies and establishments have been highly successful. “Every new experience has its pros and cons,” said Basamed. “Our role is to maximize pros and find solutions for cons. We are supporting the Ministry of Labor’s work from home program, which will provide new opportunities for women who want to join the workforces but are unable to leave their homes.” She added that the work from home program is the only way for them. “Prior to this program, women used to work from home without any guarantees, but after the decision, they became able to work with confidence and show outstanding performance. A work from home job turned into an official job in terms of rights and duties.” According to Rola Basamed, the employment fields at BRJ branches throughout the Kingdom employ more than 450 young males and females who help companies and factories to implement decisions aiming to provide job opportunities for women. This is achieved through BRJ’s website. In addition, BRJ job creators create other job opportunities through productive household, small projects finance, and taxi and truck ownership programs. From January 2011 until the end of October 2011, BRJ branches created more than 25,789 job opportunities for Saudi women in the areas of direct employment (3,545 jobs), training ending with employment (289 jobs), small projects finance (2,481 small projects) and productive household (19,483 beneficiaries). Basamed said that BRJ’s employment centers maintained an integrated database including requirements and qualifications of women job seekers. Unqualified job seekers attend training courses at Nafisa Shams Academy for Arts and Crafts to support the labor market through high-quality training packages that effectively support the labor market.