Careem commits to extended maternity leave and bringing onboard more female engineers by the end of 2017 through new internal program called “CWEEN”
Beirut, March 2017: 26% – that’s the current representation of women in Careem’s total workforce. 8% – that’s the ratio of women to men in senior leadership roles at Careem.
Drawing on its bold and transparent approach to making a difference in people’s lives, the region’s leading ride-hailing app today acknowledges the gender gap that exists within the company and pledges to overcome it by calling on women to take charge of their fair representation in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) careers.
On the occasion of International Women’s Day and as the first of many initiatives aimed at strengthening gender diversity across its offices within the region, the company announces its proprietary program – Careem Women Empowerment and Engagement Network (CWEEN). Launching today, the program will focus on ensuring equal job opportunities, flexibility and transparency for its female talent pool and contribute to the company’s efforts towards achieving zero gender bias by the end of the year.
“We looked at ourselves internally and realized that we have some work to do. We fully support gender equality in the workplace and whilst our statistics show that we are on par with the global standards, we’ve taken it upon ourselves to break out of the norm to trigger a change. In order to achieve this, we’re going to extend maternity leave from 45 days to 3 months,” said Abdulla Elyas, Co-founder and Chief People Officer, Careem.
“We understand that women with STEM backgrounds already occupy a small share of the total workforce in the region due to a number of social stigmas associated with working in these positions, inadequate support and, to a certain extent, lack of opportunities. Home-grown companies can play a massive role in changing this by taking the lead in terms of generating the right opportunities, attracting suitable talent and ensuring their effective integration within the sector. Through CWEEN and our other outreach programs such as empowering fresh graduates in universities, we want to be that change-maker that remains dedicated to unlocking the tremendous potential of the female talent within the region,” he added.
By the end of 2017, Careem also aims to hire an increased percentage of female engineers.
“A career opportunity at Careem should mean being part of an awesome institution that has committed itself to achieving gender diversity and that is exactly what we aim to be,” continued Abdulla Elyas. “This will include flexible working hours and family-friendly policies with the help of the CWEEN program which will focus on reinforcing Careem’s position as an employer of choice with a highly diverse, motivated and engaged workforce.”