Female unemployment rate in the Kingdom has soared to 36 percent as of this year, Riyadh, statistics released by the Saudi Ministry of Labor revealed. Even though women constitute only 18 percent of the Saudi workforce, a staggering 60 percent of female PhD holders are currently unemployed. In an effort to address the issue of workforce diversity, leading companies like PepsiCo, Unilever and Al Khaleej Training have confirmed their support for the Saudi Ministry of Labor endorsed “Talent and Diversity Leadership Forum”. Taking place on Dec.11-12 at the InterContinental Hotel in Riyadh, the forum is bringing together up to 200 senior level executives to review talent development and diversity strategies in the Kingdom. Raniz Rizk, Vice President and Chief Legal Counsel, Middle East and Africa Region at PepsiCo, said on the inclusion of women in leadership roles: “As a company doing business in more than 200 countries, we believe that diversity is our strength and essential to our success. We embrace people with diverse backgrounds, traits and ways of thinking. Supporting the inclusion and advancement of women will always be a top talent sustainability priority at PepsiCo. However, it is more than just a talent and employment strategy, it is a business imperative.” She added “we believe that gender inclusion enables consumer centricity and growth. Today, women comprise approximately 30 percent of our executive ranks. In Saudi Arabia, 5 percent of our workforce consists of women.” These views were echoed by Ahmad Babatin, Human Resources Director at Unilever (Saudi Arabia) – a leading organization where women make up 50 percent of the talent pool worldwide. “A diverse workforce gives us the opportunity to learn from one another, achieve better business performance and connect with the widest range of consumers. It is vital to have people with the right talent, skills and creativity. We believe that having a gender-balanced, engaged workforce that reflects our consumer base is a critical element of our long-term growth strategy,” Ahmad said. Globally, women control nearly $12 trillion of the overall $18.4 trillion in consumer spending. Despite recent efforts aimed at workforce diversity and inclusion, Saudi Arabia still ranks 127 of 136 countries in the 2013 Global Gender Gap Report by World Economic Forum, indicating the uphill task that lay ahead of the Kingdom. Stressing the importance of education and training to compliment a robust policy framework, Engineer Waleed Aldiriaan, Managing Director at Al Khaleej Training and Education, added: “Training will drive development of talent and the company in turn. This will lead to the growth of the economy overall.” The forum will be opened by Adel Muhammad Fakeih, Minister of Labor of Saudi Arabia. He will be joined by the Director General of HRDF along with prominent business leaders to discuss the future of executive development in the Kingdom. — SG
