• Brand’s First-ever Campaign to Draw Women into Retail Sphere
• Initiative to Open up Flexible, Part-time Job Options for Women in the UAE

Dubai-UAE: 15 May 2015 – Damas, the Middle East's leading jewellery and watch retailer, has announced the launch of its ‘Women in Retail’ initiative to integrate a larger number of women into the retail sector within the UAE and the wider GCC region.

Damas’ initiative will build around the findings revealed in a recent survey by TASC, which indicates that more than 63% of women in the UAE prefer to work with flexible staffing options rather than take up full-time jobs. The survey has also revealed a large untapped talent pool of both Emirati and expatriate women in the UAE that needs to be motivated to utilize their skills in productive ways.

In line with these findings, Damas’ new campaign will seek to raise awareness on the benefits of part time jobs and open up new career opportunities for women in the retail sector. Through its efforts, Damas seeks to ultimately attract more career focused women into the industry. As part of this campaign, Damas will offer training sessions to support the women participating aiming to utilise the untapped sector. The training sessions will reflect Damas’ signature customer experience as it is a crucial factor in training and leading the way in empowering women in the retail sector.

Kevin Ryan, Retail Director at Damas, commented: “At Damas, we celebrate and support women in every aspect of their lives. We believe that women are equal partners in society, in addition to being major contributors to our business and to the economy at large. Through this initiative, we hope to empower women by investing in their talent. Women make up the majority of the retail industry and by empowering them we are adding value to their lives and the industry itself.”

Ryan added: “Damas hopes to give women in the region an opportunity to explore vastly diverse and rewarding roles in the retail industry and encourage ambitious women to consider retail as a positive career option. Through this campaign, we to expand the scope of the lucrative retail sector in the region, which employs nearly one in 10 workers, many on the front lines in retail stores.”

Women in the region account for the primary retail customer base. Interestingly, even consumer electronics and home improvement retailers have learned to look beyond the traditional male shopper and embrace the role women play as influencers, decision makers and buyers. In driving its new ‘Women in Retail’ initiative, Damas will seek to transform women to play more engaging and participatory roles within the retail sector.

Damas traces its origins back to 1907 and today it is the leading luxury jewellery and watch retailer in the Middle East. Damas has expanded tremendously throughout the years and operates today more than 300 stores in 6 countries through fully owned subsidiaries and associate companies.