Workforce localization, women workers and gendered power relations in Saudi Arabian private sector workplaces

Abstract

PurposeThe paper investigates the implications for gendered power relations at work of Nitaqat, a workforce localization policy operating in Saudi Arabia which, by regulating the employment of Saudi nationals in private sector firms, has stimulated greater feminization of employment.Design/methodology/approachBased on an interpretivist, phenomenological research approach, rich qualitative data were collected in two case study organizations – a retail company and an architectural firm. The mixed-method design involved in-depth interviews with managers and women workers and extensive non-participant observation.FindingsIn exploring gendered power relations in Saudi private sector workplaces under the Nitaqat regime, the paper highlights the importance of patriarchal power. However, increased feminization of employment provides women workers with access to power resources of their own, producing complexity and variation in gendered workplace power relations.Originality/valueDrawing on Bradley's (1999) relational conception of gendered power, the paper illuminates how a Nitaqat-inspired feminization of employment, by increasing firms' dependency on women workers, has influenced the dynamics of gendered power relations in Saudi workplaces.

From sense of competence to work–life and life–work enhancements of medical doctors: Sen’s capability approach

“…With globalization and ongoing technological developments, the employment rates of women and the accompanying emergence of dual-career couples have increased (Wu and Chang, 2020; Hammond et al , 2021; Albelali and Williams, 2022). In this process, employees develop from more-or-less passive performers of predefined tasks to increasingly autonomous and responsible entrepreneurs in their work (Yasir et al , 2019).…”