In just four years, more than 480,000 Saudi women have joined the employment market, representing an average of 328 new Saudi women entering the labor market daily. This surge in female employment coincided with a significant decrease in the unemployment rate among Saudi women, dropping from 31.4 percent to 12.8 percent. This data was gathered through monitoring conducted by Okaz daily and based on information from various government agencies including the General Authority for Statistics, the General Organization for Social Insurance, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development, and the National Labor Observatory.
By the end of the first half of 2024, the total number of Saudi women working and registered in the General Organization for Social Insurance had surpassed 1.09 million, a substantial increase from the approximately 652,000 Saudi female employees registered by the end of the same period in 2020. This growth in female employment accounted for about 78.25 percent of the total number of female employees in both public and private sectors over the four-year period. Additionally, the monitoring also revealed that 208 Saudi women had resigned from their jobs to join government agencies and 722 women had been excluded from social insurance due to their passing.
The average number of Saudi women in the workforce at the beginning of working age saw a significant increase, with the average number of women working between the ages of 15-19 rising from 11,000 in 2020 to 20,000 in 2024. This suggests that female graduates are directly entering the labor market without delay. The Riyadh region boasted the highest number of working Saudi women, with over 528,000 women registered with social insurance, accounting for 48.38 percent of the total working Saudi women in the country. Following Riyadh, the Makkah region had over 222,000 working women, representing 20.38 percent of the total, while the Eastern Province had around 189,000 working women, making up 17.29 percent.
Certain regions in Saudi Arabia experienced significant growth in jobs for Saudi women, with some areas recording increases exceeding 100 percent over the past four years. The Al-Jouf region saw a 145 percent increase in jobs for Saudi women, followed by Makkah with a 126 percent increase, Asir and Al-Baha each with a 110 percent increase, and other regions experiencing growth rates exceeding 50 percent. The Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development issued 14 decisions aimed at increasing Saudization in the private sector, including raising the minimum wage to SR4000 and prohibiting collective dismissal of Saudi workers in large and medium-sized establishments except in certain circumstances.
Furthermore, additional decisions from the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development included localized tourism accommodation sectors, decoration and sewing service outlets for women, project management professions, purchases sectors, shipping activities, engineering professions, and more. These decisions are part of efforts to encourage Saudization and increase the participation of Saudi women in the workforce. Overall, the data reflects a positive trend in female employment in Saudi Arabia, with more women entering and excelling in various industries across the country.
