JEDDAH — The female recruitment division of Bab Rizq Jameel (BRJ), under the umbrella of the Abdul Latif Jameel's Community Initiatives (ALJCI), raised the number of job opportunities provided 25,393 by close to 50 percent last year compared to 2013. The working remotely program created a large number of these jobs, nearly 23 percent of the total number of the job opportunities for women. This program opens up a variety of positions within companies and organizations, all of which require the expertise Saudi women can provide working from home or remote offices, hence they can avoid the daily commute and it suits social and cultural norms. Close to 7,500 job opportunities were created in five regions of the Kingdom alone, with the largest number generated in the Western Region. “We generated over 2,000 positions in the Western Region in covering a variety of occupations. The 26 most important occupations of those covered included those in technical support for websites, electronic marketing, debt collection, translation, graphic design, sewing and embroidery,” said Afrah Mousa, Manager of BRJ Female Recruitment - Western Region. “Our aim is to spread a work culture that is in sync with Islamic Shariah, maintaining our religious values and at the same time help as many Saudi women as possible to get an opportunity to work. Our efforts contribute to KSA's ambition to reduce the female unemployment rate,” said Rola Basamad, the Senior General Manager of Bab Rizq Jameel - Female Recruitment. She added that this year's growth in BRJ's female recruitment division was only the first step to achieve this goal. BRJ's female recruitment services spans five geographical locations in Saudi Arabia, providing its services to over 40 cities and regions, collaborating with government entities, such as the Ministry of Labour, Ministry of Social Affairs, the Human Resources Development Fund and the Chambers of Commerce and Industry in the Kingdom's various regions. “I am delighted, and thankful for the very constructive cooperation these government entities have shown us, and would also like to thank our BRJ team for all the efforts they have made to create employment opportunities for Saudi women,” Basamad said. “We invested a lot of energy in helping job candidates to find the best work opportunities, including 3,400 retail positions, since 2014. Retail positions have been popular with our candidates, and comprised nearly 12 percent of the overall jobs provided by BRJ to females,” said Rabab Yahya, Manager of BRJ Female Recruitment - Southern region. In the Eastern Region, 2,556 women were employed by factories in 2014, making up nearly 9 percent of all positions filled, according to Hayfa Al Bar, the region's Manager of BRJ Female Recruitment. “The jobs ranged from working on production lines, or as factory supervisors and quality managers, to lab technicians. Nearly 50 factories throughout the Kingdom supported women to find work in the industrial sector offering various positions, including administrative posts,” she said. Mahasin Al Qarqiri, Manager of BRJ Female Recruitment - Northern Region gave special praise to the training resulting in employment program, which managed to generate a wide variety of positions, 700, representing nearly 3 percent of opportunities created in 2014. “The part time, a newly established program, did equally well. Part time work requires a contract clearly specifying the number of working hours, which must be less than 8 hours per day, nearly 30 hours per week,” she said. Al Qarqiri highlighted another new program, which opened up seasonal jobs during holidays, the pilgrimage and other festive seasons, as having done extraordinarily well, contributing around 1,600 jobs, around 6 percent of the total number of female positions generated. “The rest of the positions generated ranged from those in the administrative, over health, to other services, numbering 8,800, nearly 26 percent of the total number of jobs generated for women,” she added. Another valuable employment generator, the ‘Express Meetings', of which around 12 took place last year in various cities such as Abha, Jazan, Jeddah, Al Qasim, Al-Khobar and Al Madina, led to 2,457 out of 7,989 women candidates attending becoming employed with one of the 80 local companies who took part in the meetings, according to Huda Al Harby, Manager of Hafez Program, BRJ Female Recruitment. “Hafez Program organized these ‘Express Meetings' in collaboration with the Ministry of Labor, the Human Resources Development Fund and the Chambers of Commerce,” she added. Other achievements of the BRJ Female Recruitment last year, included signing 52 agreements with Saudi and foreign companies to assist them with filling positions which required female staff, as well as to help provide qualified personnel through the training resulting in employment program and other employment services, according to Basamad. “These agreements have contributed a lot to achieving our goal, to creating real work opportunities for women covering various sectors of the Saudi job market, including tourism & hospitality, commerce, health, service, crafts, education and administration,” she added. ALJCI's BRJ works to generate employment opportunities suitable to women, always ensuring that the correct work environment will be provided. BRJ carries out background checks to establish the credibility of the companies it works with, including a compliance check with the Ministry of Labor, before suggesting vacancies in those companies to its female candidates. — SG
