The all-female employee business process service centre, that was announced in September of 2013, will offer customers specialised Finance & Accounting, HR, Materials Supply and Office services to improve their operational efficiency. The 3,200 square meter facility will create up to 3,000 local jobs for Saudi women within the next three years.
"The first all-female business process service centre in Saudi Arabia brings significant value to the Saudi economy and society. It helps address the challenge of creating jobs for talented and skilled Saudi female graduates, establishes a more diverse workforce, and boosts the competitiveness of Saudi Arabia," said Saudi Aramco president and CEO Khalid Al Falih.
Saudi Aramco and GE are the initial clients of the centre that will provide specialized business services supporting the companies' operations. Both organizations have already surpassed their targets of hiring over 100 women each and also transferred business services to the centre.
In the centre's first phases, around 300 employees have been recruited. The employees received over 80,000 hours of intensive training in various disciplines. Nearly 90 of the Saudi recruits are fresh graduates, while the rest have two to four years of experience.
The business process service centre has already achieved over 70 per cent Saudization rate. The Saudi fresh graduates, who form part of the workforce, were chosen from King Saud University, Princess Noura University, Imam University and others. Over 1,200 candidates were interviewed for the jobs.
Last year, TCS and GE had announced the formation of the centre. TCS and GE will have 76 per cent and 24 per cent equity, respectively.
"Skills, talent and technology converge at the Kingdom's first all-female business process service centre, which marks a new era for the IT and business process services industry in the Kingdom. The centre draws on the experience of TCS in providing shared services across global markets and clients in the Kingdom can now focus on their core competencies while partnering with this venture," said Natarajan Chandrasekaran, CEO and MD of TCS.