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Meltdown Could See More Women Join UAE Workforce

This is good news amid reports that the UAE has been lagging behind several other countries in the participation of women in the workforce.

According to Dr Fatima Al Shamsi, Secretary-General of UAE University, among the GCC countries, the UAE, at only 15 per cent, has the lowest level female participation in the workforce. .

Speaking at a seminar in Abu Dhabi recently Dr Fatima said Kuwait and Bahrain are ahead with more than 22 per cent women participation, followed by Qatar at 18 per cent.

However, another study based on the data available in 2004 has put Oman with 7.33 per cent at the lowest rank, said Luby.

“Even though women’s participation in the job markets in the GCC region continues to be low, the percentage has improved over the years to the current level of 15 to 24,” says Dr Fatima.

An insight paper released by Manpower says the Middle East still follows the global trend in terms of low female participation in the workforce.

“The Middle East region joins Central and Southeast Europe, South Asia and North Africa as areas with the lowest rates of female participation in the workforce. Numerous positions remain unoccupied in service sectors such as IT, engineering and healthcare where women have the potential to excel, and yet a huge discrepancy still exists in terms of the number of women considered for and offered these posts,” said Patrick Luby.

Explaining how the global financial crisis could enhance job opportunities for women, Luby said, “Two trends are now reshaping the world of work — the growing dominance of the service sector and shrinking working-age population. These trends add up to one indisputable fact: the global talent squeeze will only get tighter, especially so after we emerge from the current financial crisis. Recession doesn’t mitigate matters in the long run,” says Patrick Luby.

During the days of the financial crisis, the companies will become cost-conscious and be ready to rely on flexible working hours, if they are able to attract talents at a lower cost. The efforts of the companies to address the growing talent crunch would also enhance the prospects of participation of women, both nationals and expatriates, in the workforce in countries like the UAE, he said. The financial crisis would also persuade more members of a family to become earning members.

The increasing number of women graduates is another factor that would augment the employability and employment of women among the nationals here.

According to reports, the percentage of women with tertiary education in the UAE is over 40 against over 20 per cent men. However, unemployment among men with tertiary education is only 15 per cent while it is as high as 49 per cent among women, says Luby.

The efforts of the countries like the UAE to diversify their economy into non-oil sector are another positive step for women, as they can find more avenues in the emerging service and manufacturing sectors.

Luby said cultural settings could be one of the factors that inhibit the efforts to increase women participation in the workforce. “For instance, we have experiences of three or four members of a family accompanying a girl for an employment interview. They probably have heard several horrifying stories about the ill-treatment of women at the workplaces. Maybe, they want to ensure that the girl is employed in a risk-free environment, and that she will be treated decently and paid properly.’’

But many of the factors that dissuade women from taking up jobs can be addressed at the structural level, says the insight paper.

Manpower Middle East is encouraging governments and enterprises to discard inflexible work structures, especially the prevailing five-day, 40-hour work week and policies such as limited maternity leave and forced overtime which deter women from returning to work. Luby also advocates more equality in terms of pay and career advancement opportunities to encourage women to join the workforce.

· ramavarman@khaleejtimes.ae

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