The government plans to roll out a series of new steps to boost women's employment next year, from flexible working hours to longer leaves and remote working options. It will also endorse the development of digital business models allowing employees to work independently of a fixed location.
The employment rate still lags behind men for women in Turkey and fluctuates around 30%. Turkey aims to boost it to at least 34% by 2023.
The Ministry of Industry and Technology will join forces with the Ministry of National Education for women's employment in more qualified jobs.
Entrepreneurship training for having more women in the workforce based on their skills will also be supported. The government will also expand daycare facilities in industrial and technology zones where companies are concentrated, to encourage women who had to quit their jobs after giving birth to return to work.
Another plan is the expansion of businesses with flexible working conditions, especially in software development and informatics where working from home is possible, to encourage more women to participate in the workforce.
The government already endorses a series of projects especially for women's employment in technology-related businesses. The number of women employed in public and private research and development sectors has increased 55.6% in the past five years and reached 54,308.
Sector professionals and top women executives say a handful of women work in Turkey's technology and engineering firms, despite huge interest from young women seeking a career in these particular fields.
A parliamentary sub-committee on equal opportunity for men and women is looking into efforts to guide more girls into the fields of mathematics and engineering as women addressing the committee point to a severe lack of women in these fields.
Turkish women do not fare better than other women in the world in terms of employment, statistics indicate. Statistics also show that the higher the educational status of a woman, the more likely she is to participate in the labor force. The highest female employment rate in Turkey was registered in the service sector. The rate is lower in industry and agriculture compared to men.
