According to the research data of Regus – a popular workspace solutions provider, a disturbing trend has been observed when it comes to employment opportunities of working mothers in the Middle East. Despite the high levels of education that the women of the Middle East boast of, the number of companies intending to hire more working mothers has gone down by one fifth since the same time in 2010. Compared to 44% of companies that were in favor of hiring working mothers in 2010, the number has come down to 36% in 2011. When the Regus study took into account 45% of companies which are globally intending to recruit new employees in 2011, the projected workforce that may have working mothers fell considerably below this level

Some concerns voiced by a few employers that works against hiring working mothers include lower levels of flexibility and commitment as compared to other employees, having out-dated skills, and leaving shortly after getting trained (which is a major investment on part of the employer) to have another child, amongst others. Though many of these notions may be old-fashioned misgivings harbored by some employers, they have come into play despite many thinking that such prejudiced attitudes can’t hold for long. However, the entire scenario isn’t gloomy.

More and more companies are waking up to the need to offer flexible work arrangements, which can help to integrate working mothers in the fold. Offering them a more family friendly work environment, which often becomes more productive as well, by simply allowing employees to work closer to home or alternative hours, is slowly becoming the norm. What’s more, many businesses are recognizing that the needs of working mothers are not exceptional and by extending the facilities offered earlier to working mums only, to all workers, productivity can be increased by making the staff more motivated, while costs related to benefits and overheads can also be reduced at the same time.

So, it remains to be seen if the Middle East job sector evolves to consider working mothers as valuable assets, which is likely to happen if the tell-tale signs are to be believed.