SABIC celebrated International Women’s Day on March 8 with a renewed focus on empowering women and ensuring equal career opportunities for all, as part of the company’s growth strategy and ambition to be a preferred employer globally.
True to this year’s theme, “Embrace Equity,” SABIC is constantly seeking to eliminate any barriers that may exist for its female employees, fully realising that empowering women is critical to the company’s success in the short and long term.
SABIC’s initiatives include SHE, the company’s women’s network, where participants exchange ideas and experiences and identify opportunities in line with the firm’s corporate priorities. SHE seeks to foster growth and development for women across every level of SABIC’s organisation, built on three pillars: Women as Leaders, Women as Partners, and Women as Influencers.
The Women as Leaders pillar focuses on empowering women to be leaders and subject matter experts, helping them achieve their aspirations through greater visibility, capability, and sense of community, based on SABIC’s core value to “Inspire.”
The Women as Partners pillar uses stakeholder engagements, both internally and externally, to attract and retain women, create new female brand ambassadors, and develop the next generation of women in STEM fields, centred around SABIC’s core value to “Engage.”
SHE’s third pillar, Women as Influencers, influences SABIC for future success by encouraging greater workplace diversity and belonging for all, identifying improvements, and creating insights whilst supporting SABIC’s corporate priorities.
A senior female employee, alongside a SABIC Executive Vice President, leads each SHE pillar – helping to inspire action, champion change, and develop agile teams that can drive real impact.
Meanwhile, the “ExSABIC” program seeks to impart on-the-job training to young female employees, qualifying them to play a greater role in several fields. The program aims to increase women’s participation in the labour market, develop the local workforce and enhance the quality of national cadres in line with the objectives of Saudi Vision 2030.
The company’s NUSANED™ local content initiative also supports female business leaders and facilitates a range of programs to empower women in collaboration with chambers of commerce, universities, and both public and private sectors.
SABIC is actively collaborating with NGOs and universities to help prepare young Saudi women for employment opportunities through the SABIC External Learning Program. The company’s scholarship program includes female high school graduates, who now make up more than 30 per cent of the program’s recipients. Under the program, female students are encouraged to take up engineering majors, such as chemical engineering, at universities in Saudi Arabia and in countries like the US and UK. This commitment to education is critical to ensuring that future women graduates are empowered to pursue higher education and career opportunities in their chosen fields.
SABIC is seeking to employ more women and hire the best candidates who have the talent and capabilities – not only for short-term gains but also to strengthen its long-term prospects to be the preferred world leader in chemicals.
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