About the Project
This project is one of the 2016 WISE Awards finalists.
Glowork is the first women’s employment organization in the Middle East and has launched a platform that links female jobseekers with employers. Glowork’s digital system lists thousands of job opportunities for women in customer service, sales, research and digital marketing. It matches skilled women with opportunities, while devising culturally sensitive technology that allows women to work virtually from home in rural areas and provides an online job portal exclusively for female jobseekers. To facilitate job matchmaking, Glowork has established relationships with Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Labour and the Human Resource Development Fund as well as universities and colleges that educate women. Glowork supports women in the job search process by providing career guidance and launched the first licensed career center for women in Saudi Arabia, Glowork also has a headhunting arm that conducts the filtering, screening, mentoring, workshops, and “A Step Ahead” female career fairs which is an annual career fair that is designed to empower women, ranging from senior university students to fresh graduates from around the kingdom. This program effectively supports women to become active agents in today’s booming workforce by enriching their job-hunting skills.
To address the gap between the education sector and the labor market, Glowork’s board members conduct weekly workshops for women attending university to explore post-graduation opportunities and how to choose a career path. Glowork has established relationships with every university and college that admits women, and they ensure that these institutions are kept abreast of all recent job postings. The organization has also started to address high school girls, to foster independent and career-oriented thinking from an early age.
Glowork has also established a virtual offices tool to enable women to work remotely. This tool led Glowork to win the most innovative solution for job creation by the International Labour Organisation, UN and the World Bank. Glowork has placed over 30,000 women throughout the Saudi labor force in the last four years
Context and Issue
Solution and Impact
Due to the constraints of the segregation law, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) often do not hire women, and Glowork’s virtual office tool enables women to work from home. This creates jobs for those in rural areas and for those with special needs/disabilities. Glowork believes that women starting to work from home and earning a basic income is the first step towards societal transformation in Saudi Arabia.
To facilitate job matchmaking, Glowork has established relationships with Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Labour and the Human Resource Development Fund as well as universities and colleges that educate women. Glowork supports women in the job search process by providing career guidance and launched the first licensed career center for women in Saudi Arabia, Glowork also has a headhunting arm that conducts the filtering, screening, mentoring, workshops, and runs “A Step Ahead” which is an annual career fair designed to empower women. This program effectively aids women in becoming active agents in today’s booming workforce by enriching their job-hunting skills.
To address the gap between the education sector and the labor market, Glowork’s board members conduct weekly workshops for women attending university to explore post-graduation opportunities and how to choose a career path. Glowork has established relationships with every university and college that educates women, and they ensure that these institutions are kept abreast of all recent job postings. The organization has also started to address high school girls, to foster independent and career-oriented thinking from an early age.