Saudi Arabia Looking For Over 2,500 New Civil Servants
The government of Saudi Arabia has embarked on a mass recruitment exercise having advertised more than 2,500 civil service jobs.
The Ministry of Civil Service yesterday published 2,586 vacancies and called on university graduates to apply for jobs ranging from grade nine – the most senior rank – to grade three – the lowest-ranking.
Strict gender segregation of public space means that jobs are advertised either for women or for men.
Of the 2,586 posts, just 218 were allocated for female applicants.
None of these are in the most senior tier – or grade nine, which includes 141 male vacancies.
Grade eight is open to seven applications by women, compared to 164 by men, and grade seven has ten female vacancies, compared to 638 male posts.
The biggest number of female posts is in the middle management ranks – or grade six, where 180 women are sought.
News website Middle East Eye argues that the recruitment is at odds with statistics that show more women than men complete higher education in Saudi Arabia.
A report published by the Arab Monetary Fund – a UAE-based department of the Arab League focused on improving fiscal cooperation in the region – found that female youth unemployment in the Middle East stands at over 43%, compared with an international average of 12.7%.
Saudi Arabia’s restrictions on women are internationally infamous: Women can’t get driving licences meaning they can’t drive legally; women are expected to keep their heads covered with scarves and wear loose fitting garments when in public; and adult women need to have a male guardian’s permission to do things like work or travel – a severe restriction on their freedom.
See also: Former UK HR Boss Calls For Civil Service To Recruit Non-graduates
About Winnie Agbonlahor
Winnie is news editor of Global Government Forum. She previously reported for Civil Service World - the trade magazine for senior UK government officials. Originally from Germany, Winnie first came to the UK in 2006 to study a BA in Journalism & Russian at the University of Sheffield. She is bilingual in English and German, and, after spending an academic year abroad in Russia and reporting for the Moscow Times, Winnie also speaks Russian fluently.
Related Posts
