In more than 76 years of history and for the first time, Saudi Arabian Airlines will start hiring local female flight attendants as the Gulf nations, led by the reformist Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, take baby steps towards a moderate version of Islam. The news on the same surfaced on 22 February 2022.
So, for the first time, Saudi-born women will be permitted to become flight attendants on a state-owned airline. The new move comes after initiating a series of wide-ranging reforms in the realm of women’s rights by the Gulf country in the recent past.
The females applying for a job must be between the age of 20 to 30. They must have completed secondary education and should also be able to speak fluent English language. Applicants will be required to pass admission stages and tests. They will even be required to undergo training for at least 2 months and also pass a medical examination.
At the same time, there’s been a push to get more Saudis into private employment, including women. Workplaces are no longer segregated by male and female-only areas. Women no longer have to enter restaurants and cafes through separate entrances.
The airline, referred to as Saudia, has a long history of hiring local male flight attendants, and supervising young female foreign flight attendants primarily, from the Philippines, Thailand, and Eastern Europe.
Previously in December 2020, Saudi Arabian Airlines announced the hiring of 50 Saudi women as flight attendants for the first time. 50 air hostess positions were allocated for female citizens in the first phase to work in Jeddah and Riyadh stations. They could take up a job after undergoing training for two months.
Also, a rail company will recruit 30 female train drivers in Saudi Arabia as was stated earlier in February. The company stated that it received 28,000 applications for the job. It is the first time such roles have been advertised for women in the Muslim kingdom.
For decades, Saudi Arabia had one of the world’s lowest female workforce participation rates.
But in recent years the government has made efforts to increase the number of women in work as part of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s plan to diversify the economy that leans heavily on the oil business.
It has also pushed through a number of social reforms, including ending the ban on women’s driving and easing male guardianship laws to allow women to travel freely.
As a result of such changes, the participation of women in the workforce has almost doubled over the past five years and more women than men entered the workforce recently. However, men still hold the majority of jobs, particularly in the public sector.
