Women in Saudi Arabia are rapidly establishing their position as a workforce in this conservative country at an unprecedented pace. According to a Foreign Affairs report, today 31% of Saudi women are employed, with their share in the private sector being 8 times higher than a decade ago.
This remarkable transformation aligns with the “Vision 2030” program of Mohammed bin Salman, the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, aimed at diversifying the economy and reducing dependence on oil. One of the key goals of this program was to increase women’s participation in the workforce to 30% by 2030, which seems to have been achieved ahead of schedule.
The Saudi government’s reform policies, such as imposing employment quotas and providing unemployment benefits, have brought hundreds of thousands of women into the workforce for the first time. This extensive participation of women has not only increased the gross domestic product but also contributed to the financial resilience of families and companies’ access to more talent.
The flight of Rayyana Barnawi as the first Arab woman astronaut to the International Space Station in May 2023 is a prominent symbol of the growing progress of Saudi women in various fields. This trend of social and economic transformation in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia continues.
