With changing lifestyle girls working in restaurants, shops and malls in big cities is a common sight. You! takes a look at this encouraging trend...
With changing lifestyle girls working in restaurants, shops and malls in big cities is a common sight. You! takes a look at this encouraging trend...
Pakistani women have come a long way since several decades ago. They have evolved with tremendous success and increased their participation in the service-sector apart from acquiring high job roles in the corporate sector.
Regardless of the slow paced growth of female employees in the service-sector, the 2011 Pakistan Employment Trends Report compiled by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, says that the percentage of working women in Pakistan has increased from 16.3 per cent in 2000 to 24.4 per cent in 2011. This means that an additional seven million female workers have joined the workforce in a period of 11 years!
The main purpose of supporting the cause of increasing female labour force in the service sector is to make them stand on their feet so that they can back their families financially. This is important because these women need to gear up in order to face life’s challenges with dignity and courage. In this regard, You! finds out the stories of various women who are contributing to their households by working as waitresses, supervisors and sales girls. Also, it focuses on how they are participating in the overall progress.
Sanobar Patras is 21 years old and is working as a waitress at one of Karachi’s renowned pizza outlets. “My father died when I was only one. I have two sisters and two brothers out of whom one of my brothers and I work. I felt the need to do something in order to make a living. I haven’t faced any hurdles so far but I must say that before coming here, I was scared and didn’t know much about the world. Here, we get to interact with all sorts of people coming from diverse backgrounds, which is an eye-opener itself and tells us how to deal with different situations,” says Patras.
“My family has been very supportive. In my opinion, every girl should work. If women in our society come out of their homes and see the professional world, they will get to know much about life and themselves. Also, with this, they will be able to provide a helping hand to their families and support in running their homes,” she adds.
Following the same vein, 35-year-old Fatima, who works at a well known cafe, is of the view, “I believe that women should be independent enough to take financial charge of their families. I don’t find anything wrong with it! When my husband died, I was shattered as I had a daughter to look after too. My parents encouraged me to work and stand on my feet so that I could take take responsibility of our
basic needs.” While talking about the reasons of joining a cafe, Fatima states, “I joined this cafe as it offers a healthy environment and reasonable remuneration. Plus our male workers are very cooperative.”
Alina Joseph, who is working as a waitress at a famous dine-in restaurant, tells, “I am a Christian but I have never faced any racism over here. We even share leftovers and are working in a healthy environment. The management treat all the employees equally. I was selected as the employee of the month after receiving an appreciation letter within a month of joining. They motivate young girls by appreciating their efforts. I am happy and enjoying my job but the best part is that I never feel alienated. Currently I have been given an opportunity to go abroad as well where I can have a better experience by working at one of the outlets.”
In some super stores too, the retailers’ efforts towards building and promoting a female work culture has appeared to be effective. Shaista Ikram is 27 years old and is working in a mall’s cosmetic section. “Every girl comes here to earn, of course! We are getting low pays but we are satisfied that we can help our families financially. Also, we are not that educated and getting a job over here is no less than a blessing. We don’t need to feel ashamed and we love what we do,” enunciates Shaista.
30-year-old Sajida Yaseen, who works as a sales girl at a clothing shop in Karachi, narrates her story, “My husband was working in a factory and he did not earn much. It was very difficult for us to even afford our children’s education fees. Though my husband was against my job, I decided to work as I wanted to support my family. My qualification was not enough to get a job of my choice. However, I feel lucky enough to find a job at this shop.”
Even though the work environment is conducive in cafes and malls and the management takes extra care of their female staff, it has its downsides too. There are certain issues that these girls deal on a day-to-day basis.
Sana Batool, 25, works at a lingerie shop at one of the malls in Karachi. “My colleagues and I have no issues with our work place and the customers are also quite friendly. But our timings become a little odd and we have to stay at the shop till the mall closes down. At times our employer provides us with conveyance, but mostly we have to commute on our own. Our pay scale is not that high, so it is next to impossible for us to take a rickshaw on a regular basis. Hence we resort to travelling in buses. It is the long wait at bus stops that is the real problem. At times we face harassment at the stop or in the bus. This is the only problem that we face being sales girls,” laments Batool.
It is heartening to see that now our girls are looking at options of getting jobs as waitresses and sales girls which were once considered a taboo in the society. Way to go girls!
