After ban ends, Saudi women see new job in becoming drivers

Even among men, the job was rejected as taboo, reserved for foreigners

RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA— Saudi women are driving freely through busy city streets for the first time after years of risking arrest if they dared to get behind the wheel. And with the longstanding ban now lifted, a new opportunity has emerged: Working as drivers.

It’s a job that had been reserved for men only and one that until recently even many Saudi males rejected as socially taboo. Driving was almost entirely the job of foreigners, of- ten lower-income and from countries such as India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Saudi women who want to work as drivers — for ride-hailing services such as Uber, for example — are challenging an even wider array of traditional limits on women’s rights and are part of a wave of change that has drawn resistance from parts of the male community in the deeply conservative country.

“It’s very natural for people to resist change,” said Ammal Farahat, an affluent mother of two with a master’s degree who runs her own consultancy. “Once they start seeing more positive images and opportunities and what it means for wom- en to drive, they’re going to change their minds.”

Farahat, who had a driver’s licence from the U.S. before obtaining a Saudi one, signed up to be a driver for Careem, a local competitor to Uber. She and her sister, who grew up in Saudi Arabia with a German mother who could drive freely in her home country, are trying out becoming drivers together.

Farahat says she decided to take on the job to defy stereotypes that working as a driver is beneath Saudi women. For many women who sign up to become drivers, the job provides another source of income and greater financial independence.

“By opening our platform now to women, we are empowering them to be their own boss, to drive or to work whenever they want, and to work how long they want as well,” said Careem co-founder Abdullah Elyas.

It’s not just women. In recent years, thousands of young Saudi men have started moonlighting as drivers for the two ridehailing services.

The change reflects the shift in Saudi lifestyles mirrored by the kingdom’s shrinking ability to rely solely on its vast oil exports for wealth.

There will still be many roadblocks for women. They need a male relative’s approval to obtain a passport or travel abroad. And the support of a father, husband or brother is seen as key to a woman being able to work or drive. Careem says 2,000 women have registered with the company to sign up as drivers since the kingdom announced in September the driving ban on women would be lifted. Uber, meanwhile, launched a website last week with over 100 Saudi women registering their interest in driving.

“By opening our platform now to women, we are empowering them to be their own boss.” ABDULLAH ELYAS CAREEM CO-FOUNDER