Lifting ban on Saudi women driving to transform job market

Approximately 82% of the Saudi women plan to practise driving in 2018.

“This is expected to contribute to more women growing into senior roles traditionally dominated by men, many women upgrading to higher paying jobs further away from their homes, and many currently unemployed women getting the opportunity to work,” Saudi Gazette added.

The GulfTalent's survey found that women’s driving will endorse their chances of career progression by giving them the mobility required for managerial positions and removing logistical limits that have traditionally inhibited promotion to senior roles.

“Now that women will be able to drive, more female candidates will likely be considered for senior roles that entail traveling to other offices,” Hala, a Regional HR Manager at a construction company in Dammam, told GulfTalent.

GulfTalent projects that allowing women to drive will lead to a wave of employed women moving to better matching and more lucrative jobs in other companies.

Because of transport constraints, many of the survey respondents said they previously had to settle for jobs with lower salary than their qualifications merited or unrelated to their interests and studies. Several women surveyed affirmed they will be looking for better opportunities once they are able to drive.

“The ability to drive will allow women to commute to work in cities from more remote locations in the same way that their male counterparts have been doing for years,” said Turki Almadhi, founder and president of TAVI, an investment firm with offices in Riyadh.

By 2020, an estimated 3 million women are forecast to be driving in Saudi Arabia, according to research by audit firm PwC, Saudi Gazette added.