The move follows a similar initiative from competitor Panda that has caused much controversy.
A young Saudi woman, who chose to remain anonymous, says she accepted a job offer at Marhaba after she failed to find a teaching job. She is paid SR3,000 a month.
“I graduated with a bachelor’s degree in history but the only teaching job that I was offered paid only SR500 a month.”
She added that she works along with five other girls. “We work for eight hours from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., but in Ramadan we start only at 10 a.m. and work until 4 p.m.”
She said the supermarket advertised the positions in a local newspaper. The job requirements, she said, including being Saudi, possessing a high school or university certificate, willing to cover the face, and to put on a simple abaya with no decorations on.
The women cashiers in Panda and Marhaba work in separate sections with glass partitions designated for families only.
In Panda, six out of 32 booths are allocated for women cashiers, while in Marhaba there are two. The partitions do not cover anything as the customers and cashiers can see each other. Panda’s women employees were reluctant to talk about their experience and refused to share any information.
In the early hours of the day, the supermarket was relatively empty and the women cashiers were sitting idle, quashing rumors that they had been banned from working there. In Marhaba at 4 p.m., no shoppers were seen at the women’s booths.
Saudi columnist Mohammad Al-Saaid said that despite the opposition against the employment of Saudi women cashiers, the project would go ahead because society has changed compared to 10 years ago and is now overall in favor of such a move. He disagreed that the decision to employ women was simply a marketing ploy by Panda. “Panda only took the initiative, and if any other supermarket takes the same step, that will also be more than welcome.”
When asked about the campaign launched to boycott the supermarket, Al-Saaid said: “People who are against it are now at a dead end because they don’t offer an alternative.” He also explained that the market make its own rules.
“Before, the market was in need for vocational jobs. That stage is over and now the market is more geared towards retailing, which is where the job opportunities are.”
Al-Saaid added that both husbands and wives need to work, as men are no longer able to take care of their families on their own on salaries less than SR3,000.