Switching careers, setting up business: How working mothers in UAE chart their career

When investment banker Saran Sow arrived in Dubai from Paris seven years, she did not have the option to go back to her corporate job. Instead she began her own venture.

“My husband got a good opportunity as an international lawyer here,” she said. “It was a new city and I did not have the support system that I did in Paris. So we both made the joint decision that I would be a stay-at-home mum.”

The mother of three then pivoted and started her own business – Afro Baobab Events, an African themed event company in Dubai that designed and crafted unique experiences for people. “When you have a master’s degree and years of experience, you start to get bored sitting at home,” she said. “You want to do something of your own but you want something that you can fit around your family’s schedule.”

Now, a Federal National Council (FNC) member, Maryam Majid bin Thaniah, has proposed an option to allow working mothers with children below the age of 10 to have flexible working hours. This would give thousands of women like Saran a chance to get back into the workplace. In her proposal to Minister of State for Government Development and the Future, Ohood bint Khalfan Al Roumi, Maryam has suggested a system where mothers could work in office in the first half of the day and remotely from home in the second among other options.

Saran said she welcomed the move wholeheartedly. “Two years after I moved here, I tried to go back to work but there was no option of remote work or a part time option. Having such a system would have made a huge difference to me,” she said.

Switching careers

Once she completed her higher education in industrial economics and engineering business management, Rumana Mowjee was set to take over her family business when she moved to the US with her husband. After the birth of her children, she knew that she wanted to do something flexible to be with her children.

“I approached the Gymboree Play & Music in the US for master franchise and we decided to move to the UAE to set up the play area,” she said. Arriving in Dubai during the Covid pandemic, she enjoyed spending time with her children during lockdown. “Going back to work carried a mixed bag of emotions for me. I was happy to establish a routine and have structure in my day but I had gotten very used to spending lots of time with my kids which I truly missed.”

Today, the mother-of-two goes to office when her kids are in school and returns in time to pick them up from school. “During their early years, it really makes a difference when you are present in their life,” she said. “Flexibility in work can give women the best of both worlds while the economy of the country benefits the continued participating of women in the workforce.”

Policies to retain parents in the workplace

Even before the discussion came up in the FNC, several local companies had put in place policies conducive to retain parents in the workplace. Tappy Toes Nursery, which recently won the parent-friendly label for family friendly policies is one such company.

The PFL programme targets institutions in the UAE’s semi-government, private, and third sectors, aiming to encourage them to adopt policies and frameworks that support working parents and enable them to provide the best possible care to their children.

• UAE: Remote work system for working mothers proposed