Saudi Arabia is aiming for a major boost in female employment, AFP reported Tuesday (March 14th).
"Telework" and work from home will generate up to 141,000 jobs by 2020, providing "decent and proper" employment, particularly for women and the disabled, the labour ministry said in a Monday statement.
As part of a wide-ranging social and economic reform drive to cope with lower oil revenues, Saudi Arabia is trying to get more women working.
But the ministry statement acknowledged "a lot of social obstacles including transportation and family responsibilities" that hinder female labour market participation.
The ministry said telework would also benefit those in remote parts of the kingdom.
In the third quarter of last year the unemployment rate for Saudi women was 34.5%, compared with 5.7% for Saudi men, according to figures cited by the firm Jadwa Investment.
By 2020 the kingdom wants to boost the proportion of women in the workforce to 28% from 23% last year.
According to official data, at the end of 2015 the Saudi public sector employed 469,000 women while another 500,000 worked in the private sector.
