Bechtel, a leading engineering, procurement, construction, and project management company, today announced a new partnership with Saudi Women Engineers Society (SWES), the first Engineering Society for women in Saudi Arabia. Bechtel will support the not-for-profit with professional development, skill enhancement, and career advancement opportunities for Saudi national women engineers.
From Left: Saudi Women Engineering Society (SWES) members with the Saudi Arabian Bechtel Company (SABCO) team at Bechtel’s recently opened regional headquarters in Riyadh.
The new partnership will support Saudi’s Vision 2030 goal to empower women in the region by increasing career opportunities, including development and training, for women in the workforce.
“Bringing more diverse talent into the engineering and STEM fields in Saudi Arabia is crucial to delivering on Vision 2030's goals,” said Abdul-Rahman Al-Ghabban, president of Saudi Arabian Bechtel Company (SABCO) and regional manager for the Middle East Region at Bechtel. “Bechtel is partnering with SWES with the goal of inspiring more women in Saudi Arabia – and around the world – to pursue engineering careers and to become future leaders in our industry.”
Together, Bechtel and SWES will provide training and development programs, organize networking and speaking opportunities, and match SWES members with Bechtel mentors from across its various projects. SWES will also collaborate with Women@Bechtel Saudi Arabia, one of Bechtel’s Business Resource Groups dedicated to empowering women to join, stay, and thrive at Bechtel.
“We are very excited about the partnership with Bechtel and what it is going to do to support and showcasing the immense talent of Saudi Arabian women engineers,” said Alshaima Abduallah Alshayeb, founder, and chairperson of SWES. “Support from our industry partners is instrumental to the personal and professional success of the women and we are looking forward to kickstarting the initiatives throughout the Kingdom.”
Today, Bechtel has nearly 4,000 professional staff working on projects, and continues to employ growing numbers of women and locals working at projects like NEOM, where more than 50% of women on the project are Saudi nationals.
This year, Bechtel celebrates its 80th anniversary of working in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and delivering over 300 projects in the region, including some of the most ambitious projects in the world. Current giga projects where Bechtel is applying its 125 years of expertise include NEOM, Trojena, Jubail, the Riyadh Metro Project, and most recently, New Murabba.
