Marking International Women’s Day 2021, Saudi grocery retailer BinDawood Holding celebrated the achievements of its female workforce and released key data on its mission to hire more women across the organization.
In 2019, BinDawood Holding grew the percentage of its female employees by 28 percent and in 2020, that number increased by a further 25 percent. The figure applies across the BinDawood and Danube retail brands as well as BinDawood Holding’s headquarters.
Chief executive Ahmad A.R. BinDawood said: “BinDawood Holding has a long legacy of championing and supporting women. Women are fundamental to the success of any retail business, and as an organization we are proud that our business has a history of continuously striving to support women. One of our missions is to increase the percentage of women in our workforce and I am proud to share that in 2019 and 2020, that increased by over 25 percent year-on-year.”
Commenting on the visibility of women at managerial levels of the organization, he said: “This is an ongoing process across BinDawood Holding. We are working on promoting gender equality across the organization. Over 13 percent of duty managers across our stores are women; this is an important role in our organization, as the second-in-command at a branch. This number was reached as a result of a training program that advanced entry level employees through to duty manager level.”
BinDawood Holding employs more than 10,000 people across the Kingdom. The country is set to provide jobs for 1 million Saudi women by 2030 under the strategic framework of Vision 2030. The ambitious reform plan, presented by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, aims to diversify the country’s economy and increase women’s participation in the workforce.
BinDawood Holding operates a total of 74 stores in the Kingdom — 51 hypermarkets and 23 supermarkets — under the brands BinDawood and Danube.