Pioneers in plants

Saudi Aramco, with its young workforce and a commitment to fostering careers for both men and women, has made dramatic strides in recent years to draw on what some have called the company’s greatest untapped resource — female employees.

A growing number of women are finding their place in the front lines of the company’s core businesses of Upstream and Downstream, working as mechanical, chemical, and petroleum engineers; chemists, lab scientists, and safety inspectors; and geologists, geophysicists, and IT specialists.

Yahya A. Abushal, acting general manager at Ras Tanura Refinery says: “Saudi Aramco has always demonstrated a leading role in creating career opportunities for both men and women. Throughout time, women have reached executive level positions, which is empowering to the generations ahead. Today we are reaping the benefits of the gender diversity decisions that were made in the past decade. As a Kingdom, the benefit we gain is that we are starting to tap into the talent of the other half of society, who are now able to participate in more parts of the economy.”

“Saudi Aramco, much like the Kingdom, is going through significant changes, especially when it comes to gender diversity. Specifically in the core business area of the company. With the increasing number of female students graduating from and majoring in science, technology, engineering, and math disciplines and fields, more opportunities are becoming available to young Saudi women”, says Lamah F. Al Khayyal, acting administrator for Saudi Aramco’s Women in Development and Diversity. “Our goal is not to simply increase the number of women in the company, but to provide women the opportunity to venture into technical fields and build their skills and qualifications to create a more diverse workforce for Saudi Aramco.”