Bucking Covid-19 trend, Saudi women take job market by storm: Business Extra

Female participation in the kingdom's workforce rose to 33% at the end of 2020 as social reforms bring change

More Saudi Arabian women are joining the workforce than ever before as wide-sweeping reforms bear fruit. But the country's recent progress is an outlier in a global jobs market much changed by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The National's Deena Kamel's recent reporting uncovers how working women are juggling heightened workloads and more household duties, leading to job dissatisfaction, pessimism about career prospects and deteriorating mental health.

She joins co-hosts Mustafa Alrawi and Kelsey Warner this week to talk about how Saudi Arabia is reaching its targets amid broader, less encouraging trends affecting gender inclusion and progress.

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How Saudi Arabia's women are pushing into the workforce and transforming the economy​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

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In this episode

Impact of Covid-19 on women's careers (0m 44s)

Saudi and female workforce participation (3m 20s)

Women's mental health (8m 18s)

Where are we going from here? (11m 16s)

Diversification in the private sector (18m 27s)

Updated: July 28, 2021, 4:48 AM