Only women to work in Saudi cosmetic shops from July

Only Saudi women will be allowed to work at cosmetic and perfume shops from June 30, a senior official of the Labour Ministry said this week. While not giving exact details of staff employed in the sector, Fahd Al-Tikhaifi, assistant secretary at the Ministry of Labour, said medium-sized shops could employ between two to five Saudi women, Arabic daily Al-Madinah reported. The shops had enough time to implement the decision, especially as it has been out since last year, he added. Al-Tikhaifi expected the decision’s execution to be difficult in its initial days, as perfume shops also sell their fragrances to men. He also rejected claims that the decision would influence Saudization rates, or that it would reduce vacancies available for young men. “The retail sector has considerable ability to employ both young men and women,” Al-Tikhaifi said. Nashwa Tahir, the chairperson of the trade committee at the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry commended the decision and said that it would generate thousands of jobs for Saudi women. "The decision would not reduce the job opportunities for Saudi men, as manpower in the cosmetics and perfume shops were foreigners," she added. Muhammad Al-Ghamdi, in charge of employment in a chain of famous cosmetics and perfume shops, expected the decision to increase the percentage of sales. "Women understand each other, and a saleswoman will know better what a woman customer may be looking for…" he said. In March, Saudi media reported that some 600 lingerie shops in Saudi Arabia have been closed for not adhering to new government rules which ban stores from employing male sales assistants. Since the ruling was issued, 90 percent of women’s accessory shops in Jeddah have complied with the decision and hired around 1,500 female workers, Muhammad Al-Shehri, chairman of the textiles and readymade clothes committee at the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI), said at the time. However, approximately 10 percent of stores located in traditional and old markets have not obeyed the laws because women have shown no interest in working there, he said. Following the decision to reserve jobs in lingerie shops for women, underwear sales have increased in the city by 30 percent, he added.