Coronavirus boosted corporate leadership gender-diversity in Saudi Arabia, KPMG study shows

The report by the global network of professional firms, published for the first time in Saudi Arabia late last year, showed that Saudi female business leaders see a positive future for gender equality with 73 percent of those surveyed believing that women are likely to be their successor in the kingdom, versus 53 percent internationally.

“The Female Leaders Outlook survey offers compelling insights into how women in leadership positions view the competitive business landscape today,” said Kholoud Mousa, partner & head of inclusion and diversity, KPMG in Saudi Arabia.

“Our research shows that female leaders generally are very well positioned with strong emotional intelligence, excellent communication skills and a focus on sustainable growth and living,” she continued.

Coronavirus has acted as an accelerator for digitalisation and ignited change in many areas which is why it could be seen as a catalyst for gender diversity, explained Mousa.

Indeed, 47 percent of Saudi female leaders do not expect Covid-19 to slow down progress on diversity and inclusion, although one third are still not sure about the pandemic’s impact on progress.

One of the by-products of the pandemic, remote work, was seen as a key opportunity to bring more women into the workforce and 23 percent of Saudi female leaders (double the global figure) saw quotas for female leadership as a factor for future success.

Kholoud Mousa, partner & head of Inclusion and Diversity, KPMG in Saudi Arabia.

Looking broadly at the economy, the KPMG survey found 66 percent of female leaders in Saudi Arabia and more than half 58 percent of global respondents remain confident or very confident about their companies’ growth prospects over the next three years.

A significant majority of global female leaders (79 percent) and female leaders in Saudi Arabia (81 percent) stated that their company’s digital transformation projects have been accelerated during the Covid-19 crisis.

“Looking ahead, the survey shows that Saudi female leaders have clearly defined objectives for their companies and are keenly aware of the present and future challenges,” explained Mousa.