This chapter examines how the progress Egypt has made in increasing women’s educational levels has translated into their success in the labour market. It starts by surveying differences between men and women’s employment patterns, including trends in labour market participation; the removal of legal barriers to women’s employment; pay differences; and extensions to social protection, particularly for domestic workers. It then considers the position of women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) careers, as well as how effectively their talents are being used in leadership roles. It examines progress made in including women effectively in social dialogue, and efforts to tackle violence and harassment of women at work and more widely. The chapter ends with concrete policy recommendations to strengthen women’s labour market participation.
Women’s Economic Empowerment in Egypt
Abstract
The strides made in increasing women’s educational attainment have not translated into labour market gains, with a labour force participation rate of only 17% among women in 2024 – a fall of 6 percentage points since 2010, and 54 percentage points below that of men. Improving women’s mobilisation into the workforce would not only improve their welfare but also boost growth for the whole economy.
Employment growth and labour demand have not kept pace with a growing and increasingly educated working-age population. In 2024, 18% of women in the workforce were unemployed, compared to 5% of men. Youth unemployment is high in Egypt, especially among young women. Compared to young men, they are more than twice as likely to be not in employment, education or training (NEET).
Despite progress, differences in earnings remain large in Egypt. In 2023, median women’s wages in the private sector were 77% of men’s. These gaps are linked to differences in men and women’s labour force participation, incidence of part-time employment and occupational composition.
Almost two in three (62%) economically active women were in informal employment in 2023. Women’s growing incidence of informality, while lower than for men, puts women at risk of working poverty, poor working conditions and a lack of access to social protection.
Women in Egypt remain largely under-represented in management positions, and female university graduates face barriers to good job opportunities. In 2024, women accounted for 22% of employees in senior or middle management positions and in 2022, 6% of Egyptian firms had a woman as top manager, compared to an average of 15% globally.
Improving equality in the labour market will require measures to support good quality jobs for the whole population, including strengthening Egypt’s employment legislative framework, supporting formalisation, introducing pay transparency measures, and increasing women’s voice and access to leadership positions.
Improving the mobilisation of Egypt’s female talent into the workforce would increase their access to economic resources and could boost economic development. Currently, despite being increasingly well-educated, only a small share of women are active in the labour market and those who do work tend to be concentrated in less well-paid occupations. Although there are similar shares of men and women among science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) graduates, this has not translated into the labour market, and women are under-represented in leadership roles and among entrepreneurs.
Despite updated legal protections, including the notable new Labour Law No. 14 of 2025, women in Egypt continue to face more barriers to finding high-quality jobs than their male peers. Women are frequently concentrated in “invisible” activities such as domestic labour and unpaid work, primarily in family settings and in the informal sector where jobs lack essential security and fall outside the framework of Egypt’s labour laws. Limited representation in social dialogue, and the impact of sexual harassment and violence, also hamper women’s economic participation. A recent analysis suggests that removing barriers to female labour force participation in Egypt would improve welfare by 25%, while fully equalising male and female labour force participation could increase GDP by about 60% (Ostry et al., 2018[1]).
This chapter takes stock of the situation of women in the labour market in Egypt, and analyses different dimensions of job quality for female workers. Section 7.2 looks at the differences between men and women in how and where they work and what they are paid. It also covers the changing legal framework for employment and social protection and the position of informal workers. Section 7.3 considers how far Egypt’s success in encouraging women to study STEM subjects has translated into the labour market, while Section 7.4 assesses whether the country is making use of all its talents in management and leadership roles. Section 7.5 looks at the progress made in encouraging women’s representation in dialogue across government, unions and employers. Finally, Section 7.6 covers ongoing efforts to tackle harassment and violence against women in and around the workplace. The chapter closes by identifying policy approaches to promote women’s economic participation and build a labour market that works for all.
Women’s progress in education is not yet reflected in the labour market
Employment rates in Egypt are low overall and have seen a downward trend in the past decade Employment growth has not kept pace with the increasing working age population (OECD, 2024[2]). Underemployment, where employees work fewer hours than they would like or are overqualified for their jobs, is also common (Assaad, Crafft and Yassin, 2020[3]).
The gap in labour force participation between women and men is wide and widening further. The International Labour Organization (ILO) found just 16.5% of women were working or looking for work in 2024, compared to the 71.3% participation rate for men (Figure 7.1). According to CAPMAS data this rate is slightly higher with, 16.9% of women participating in the labour force in 2024, compared to 70.3% of men (CAPMAS, 2024[4]).This difference between men and women of almost 55 percentage points is slightly higher than the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) average and much wider than the gap of 15 percentage points across OECD countries. Close to 18% of the women who were active in the labour market were unemployed in 2024, compared to just under 5% of men in the same year (Figure 7.1, Panel C). In the last 15 years, the share of women in the labour force in Egypt has fallen by approximately 8 percentage points, from 23% in 2010 (Figure 7.1, Panel B).
The COVID-19 pandemic differed in how it affected men and women. Although it caused a temporary drop in employment among both men and women, women were more likely to exit the labour force altogether while men were more likely to remain unemployed. This might be linked to the fact that the main employment losses for women were in agriculture and retail, two sectors where self-employed workers and very small businesses might have not been able to weather the crisis (Rodriguez, Genoni and Halim, 2023[5]).
Labour force participation and unemployment rate by country and by gender, 2024
Note: The labour force participation rate is defined as the share of women/men as a percentage of the female/male population of working age (age 15+) who are actively engaged in the labour market, either by working or looking for work. The unemployment rate shows the share of women/men who are part of the labour force yet unemployed, i.e. wanting to work and actively seeking employment.
Source: ILO (2024[6]), ILO Modelled Estimates and Projections database (ILOEST), https://ilostat.ilo.org/data/ (accessed on 9 August 2024); (ILO, n.d.[7]), Labour Force Statistics (LFS, STLFS, RURBAN databases), https://ilostat.ilo.org/methods/concepts-and-definitions/description-labour-force-statistics/.
The most common area of employment for women in Egypt by far is in the public sector. In 2023, 38% of women who worked did so in the public sector, compared to 18% of men (Figure 7.2). The public sector offers educated women opportunities for good jobs and access to benefits, but this prevalence means women were more affected than men by the decline of public sector employment between 2018 and 2023 in Egypt. Over the same period, formal private sector employment in Egypt also fell slightly for women, but not for men. Self-employment has instead gained ground, from 12% to 18% of female employment, and the share of informal employment outside establishments has increased slightly (Assaad and Mahmoud, 2024[8]). As in other countries, women in Egypt tend to work in lower quality jobs than men.1 Labour force participation is particularly low among married and low-educated women, mainly because of care responsibilities within the family (OECD, 2024[2]).
Structure of employment by type of employment and gender, 2018 and 2023
Note: “Informal private wage inside establishment” refers to wage workers employed in informal jobs within a fixed workplace (e.g. firms or shops), while “informal private wage outside establishment” refers to wage workers in informal jobs without a fixed workplace (e.g. street-based, domestic or casual work).
Source: Assaad and Mahmoud (2024[8]), Evolution of the structure and quality of employment in Egypt, 2012-2023, https://erf.org.eg/publications/evolution-of-the-structure-and-quality-of-employment-in-egypt-2012-2023/.
Young women are much more likely than young men to be outside of the labour force, or not in employment, education, or training (NEET). In 2024, only 8.6% of women aged 15-24 were part of the labour force, in contrast to 38.8% of men of that age – and 21% of women aged 40-59 (World Bank, 2024[9]). Although some of the low participation rates among young people may be because many will still be in education or training at that age, 36.3% of women aged 15-24 were NEET in 2024, compared to 14.9% of men in the same age group: a difference of 21 percentage points (ILO, 2025[10]) (see also Chapter 5).
The government is taking steps to lower legal and practical barriers to female employment
Giving better opportunities to women is key to making the most of the talent in the country and strengthen economic growth. Increasing female employment rates and women’s access to economic resources is a central goal of the National Strategy for the Empowerment of Egyptian Women 2030, which was launched in 2017 (NCW, 2017[11]). The strategy includes concrete targets to be achieved by 2030, including:
increasing the ratio of female estimated earned income to males estimated earned income from 29% (2016) to 58%
growing the percentage of small enterprises managed or owned by women from 22% (2015) to 50%
raising the female labour force participation rate from 24% in 2016 to 35% by 2030.
However, projections made in 2024 in the National Narrative for Economic Development (MPED, 2025[12]) anticipate much lower levels of participation, with female labour force participation reaching between 17% and 19.6% by 2030 depending on the scenario considered (baseline, accelerated reform or conservative). This downward revision reflects the need to scale up existing reforms to increase women’s labour market participation (MPED, 2025[12]).
Egypt has taken steps to improve women’s legal access to employment. As Chapter 3 describes, Ministerial Decree No. 155 of 2003, which limited women from working in specific professions, was replaced by Decree No. 34 of 2021, limiting restrictions to 33 defined occupations (MPED, 2025[12]). The new Labour Law No. 14 of 2025 prohibits gender-based discrimination in recruitment, promotion, pay, training, and working conditions, as stated in Articles 5 and 53, providing a legal basis for workplace equality. The law also establishes comprehensive protections during pregnancy and maternity, provides flexible working arrangements, and guarantees access to childcare facilities for working mothers (Arab Republic of Egypt, 2025[13]). This law builds on a broader legal framework including ratified international conventions2. However, the absence of specific provisions to criminalise and sanction employment-related discrimination, particularly in cases linked to maternity protection, occupational health and safety considerations, weakens the enforcement of these measures (OECD Development Centre, 2023[14]).
There also wider initiatives to increase women’s economic participation. These include the Women on Boards Observatory and the Closing the Gender Gap Accelerator, aimed at promoting women's leadership and reducing gender pay gaps (MPED, 2025[12]). The Ministry of Social Solidarity, through partnerships with private actors, has also expanded nursery facilities and flexible childcare services to encourage mothers’ participation in the workforce (Ministry of Social Solidarity, 2023[15]). There are initiatives to provide training to women across the country and, in some cases, provide them with supplies to carry out the work.
Expanding access to childcare and flexible working arrangements will help women, and men, reconcile paid work with unpaid care responsibilities. Access to parental leave for fathers would also support a more equal sharing of care responsibilities (see Chapter 6). The growth in women’s self-employment in recent years needs to be supported with measures targeted at female entrepreneurs, an important potential source of job creation and opportunities for women (see Chapter 8).
Women who work still lag behind men in earnings
The gap in income between men and women remains significant in Egypt, although it is narrowing. According to the estimated earned income index, women earn about one-fifth of men’s estimated earnings and Egypt ranks 140th out of 146 countries on this measure (World Economic Forum, 2024[16]). Data from the 2023 household survey show that in Egypt, women’s median wages in the private sector were 77% of men’s – an improvement on the 65% observed in 1998 (AlAzzawi and Hlasny, 2025[17]). The wage data suggest the existence of both “glass ceilings” – barriers to advancement at the top of the wage distribution – and “sticky floors” – obstacles hindering progress at the lower end (Said, Majbouri and Barsoum, 2022[18]).
Some of this gap is due to differences in work intensity between men and women. More women than men in Egypt work part-time (Figure 7.4, Panel A). About one-third of employed women in Egypt worked part time in 2023, compared to only 13% of employed men, and there are few opportunities for part-time work for formal workers in the private sector (Assaad and Mahmoud, 2024[8]). Working hours are generally long in the private sector, and women are more likely to work in jobs where working hours are less predictable or flexible (OECD, 2024[2]).
Wage differences are also linked to women’s concentration in occupations with lower pay. In 2023, three occupations – primary education, nursing and clerical roles – accounted for 37% of women workers whereas working men are more evenly distributed across occupations (Figure 7.3. ). Promoting equality in the labour market – by supporting the participation of women in all sectors and supporting their career progression – will help make progress in closing the pay gap with men.
Share of women’s and men’s employment accounted for by the top 3-digit occupational categories by gender, 2023
Source: AlAzzawi and Hlasny (2025[17]), Occupational segregation and the gender wage gap in Egypt, https://erf.org.eg/publications/occupational-segregation-and-the-gender-wage-gap-in-egypt/, based on Egypt Labour Market Panel Survey (ELMPS 2023).
Pay transparency measures can also help tackle pay differences. Many OECD countries require or encourage private sector employers to report gender-disaggregated pay information to various stakeholders, including workers, government entities and the public (OECD, 2023[19]). Most OECD countries integrate pay transparency reporting requirements into broader, mandatory equal pay auditing processes. To streamline the administrative load of pay gap reporting, governments can offer free and accessible reporting tools to employers, such as online guidance and software enabling firms to calculate and submit data to the government, or existing data could be used to compute wage statistics for companies. For these measures to be effective, governments need to enforce compliance and make sure they cover a substantive portion of the workforce (OECD, 2023[20]).
Egypt can do more to extend social protections to all workers, especially in domestic work
Both men and women in Egypt experience high levels of informal employment. In 2023, the ILO estimated that 62% of female workers, and 73% of male workers, were in informal employment in Egypt, more than the MENA region average and more than in 2019 (Figure 7.4, Panel B). The CAPMAS labour survey found informal employment in Egypt affected 57% of women, compared to 66.9% of men (CAPMAS, 2023[21]). Informal workers may be own-account workers, work in an enterprise in the informal or formal sector, or work in households (ILO, 2018[22]).
Domestic work has a high concentration of female workers and informality. In general, women in informal wage employment tend to be over-represented in the lower echelons of the informal occupational spectrum, earning lower wages (OECD/ILO, 2019[23]). Various factors contribute to this situation. Social norms regarding caregiving roles, and gender-based inequalities within households play a significant role in perpetuating gender segregation in the informal labour market (OECD/ILO, 2019[23]). In Egypt, the 2018 Labour Force Survey estimated that the domestic workforce was approximately 457 000 individuals, accounting for 18% of the paid care workforce. The latest estimates place the number of domestic workers in Egypt at around half a million.
Workers in informal employment usually have fewer protections and poorer quality jobs. Informal workers tend not to have access to employment protection, social security or certain employment benefits such as advance notice of dismissal or sick leave. Informal workers also generally face poorer working conditions than formal workers, due to irregular work schedules, unstable earnings, lower average wages and greater risk of unemployment (OECD, 2024[2]). In Egypt, domestic workers have traditionally lacked access to employment and social protection – for example, the 2025 Labour Law does not apply to them – although, as detailed in Chapter 3, the 2019 Social Insurance and Pension Law has expanded workers’ access to social insurance, including informal workers. Recognising that the COVID-19 pandemic exposed gaps in the social protection of informal economy workers, the government issued Prime Ministerial Decree No. 2183 in 2020, establishing a ministerial committee tasked with extending social protection to this segment of the workforce. As of August 2025, Egypt is working towards regulating and protecting domestic workers through a new, dedicated draft law.
Part-time and informal employment as a share of total employment
Note: Data in Panel A refer to 2021 or the latest year available (2019 for Lebanon, Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia; and 2020 for Qatar), and in Panel B to 2022 or latest year available (2019 for Lebanon and Tunisia; 2021 for Iraq and Jordan; and 2023 for Egypt).
Source: Panel A: ILO (2023[24]), Incidence of part-time employment by sex -- Common definition (%) Annual (ILOSTAT data explorer), https://rshiny.ilo.org/dataexplorer54/?lang=en&segment=indicator&id=EMP_PTER_SEX_RT_A&channel=ilostat; Panel B: ILO (2023[25]), SDG Indicator 8.3.1. - Proportion of informal employment in total employment by sex and economic activity (%) annual (ILOSTAT data explorer), https://rshiny.ilo.org/dataexplorer08/?lang=en&segment=indicator&id=SDG_0831_SEX_ECO_RT_A&channel=ilostat (accessed on 14 May 2025).
Egypt has made significant progress in strengthening social protections. Several of the reforms initiated over recent years aim to facilitate the creation of better-quality jobs by enhancing employability, encouraging labour force participation and strengthening social safety nets. This includes remodelling education and training programmes under the National Structural Reform Programme, the expansion of cash transfer programmes such as Takaful and Karama (OECD, 2024[2]), and the adoption of a Universal Health Insurance Law in 2018. This last aims to achieve universal coverage by 2032 and combines contributory and non-contributory elements, partly financed through new taxes. Better enforcement of workplace health and safety standards is also critical to overcoming barriers to women’s paid work (OECD, 2023[26]).
Expanded social insurance has improved coverage but may be a barrier to formalisation. As covered in more detail in Chapter 3, the Social Insurance and Pensions Law (Law 148 of 2019) expanded coverage to a wider range of workers while reducing contribution rates (OECD, 2024[2]).3 Despite this, contribution rates remain higher than in most neighbouring countries and in OECD countries and could act as a barrier to integrating both women and men into formal employment (OECD, 2024[2]). The 2019 law also increased the fines imposed on employers who do not register their employees and the government conducts labour inspections to verify the registration of employees. Evaluating the effects of the 2019 reform on the promotion of formal jobs will help identify potential areas for improvement.
Simplifying registration for social insurance can reduce obstacles to formal employment. Currently the administrative process is quite complex and time-consuming (Wahba, 2022[27]; OECD, 2024[2]). Campaigns to raise awareness among employers and workers about their rights and responsibilities, and guidance to guide them through the relevant processes, will also help. Maintaining worker protection while providing incentives to formalise, as well as streamlining formalisation and compliance processes will be important to continue progress in promoting the formal economy (OECD, 2024[2]). Mexico's approach sets an example for easing administrative tasks and ensuring social security coverage for domestic workers (Box 7.1).
Mexico's Social Security Institute (IMSS) programme provides an example of reducing administrative barriers and sharing responsibilities for domestic workers. All social insurance procedures can be completed online, making it convenient for domestic workers with multiple employers. Employers can easily register employees on the ministry's website, providing the necessary details. If domestic workers work for multiple employers, they can inform the IMSS online or get a form from a nearby employment office. Insurance fees are calculated automatically based on days worked for each employer, ensuring fair contributions. Domestic workers can access their social security number through the IMSS website or the ministry's app (Wahba, 2022[27]).
Egypt has almost achieved balance between men and women in STEM education but not in the workforce. Women’s advances in educational attainment (see Chapter 5) have not yet translated into stronger labour market outcomes or challenged stereotypes about gender norms. For example, although nearly half of STEM graduates are women (47.3% overall in 2019), the share of women in the STEM workforce is somewhat lower, at 38%, although this number is relatively high in international terms (UNESCO Arab Science Podium, 2023[28]; ILO, 2022[29]). This reflects women dropping out of the field between graduation and professional practice, although the fall in numbers is smaller than for the overall female population, meaning female STEM graduates are more likely to remain in the labour market. Women represent a particularly significant share of the workforce in information and communications technology (ICT), reflecting their strong presence in technology-related fields. This contrasts with their lower representation in engineering and mathematics, highlighting the importance of distinguishing between STEM subfields when analysing women’s participation.
Women in STEM experience poorer labour market outcomes than men. According to a survey of recent Egyptian graduates, men were less likely to be unemployed after graduating from a STEM field than their female peers. Among ICT graduates, 22% of male graduates were unemployed compared to 77% female ones; and the shares were 23% compared to 75% in natural sciences, mathematics and statistics; and 13% compared to 60% in engineering, manufacturing and construction (ILO, 2022[29]). When they do find a job, women in STEM fields tend to have significantly lower wages than men; the average wage for women in the ICT sector in 2021 was 34% the level for men and was 88% of the minimum wage (ILO, 2022[29]). Women also lack the same professional opportunities as men in these fields. Close to 50% of researchers across disciplines in Egypt are women, but female researchers face challenges in securing research funding, as they accounted for roughly 17-18% of state research grants and about 15-16% of registered patents (NCW, 2024[30]).
Egypt has taken action to support women in STEM. The Academy of Scientific Research and Technology oversees various state prizes recognising Egyptian women's individual efforts, such as Nile awards, state merit awards, state awards of excellence and state encouragement awards, covering STEM specialisations. The Women in Technology and Qodwa Tech programmes aim to provide digital skills and encourage female participation in the STEM sector, particularly ICT (Box 7.2). International programmes such as the L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science Egypt Young Talents programme aim to identify and reward talented female scientists in Egypt (see Box 9.3 in Chapter 9). The National Committee of Women in Science, Women in Science for Developing Countries and Women in Science without Borders provide networking opportunities for women in STEM. To make further progress, in addition to measures to support the reconciliation of family and work responsibilities, Egypt can consider training and networking opportunities to help women secure research funding.
Qodwa Tech – Ministry of Communications and Information Technology
Qodwa Tech is an initiative designed to improve women’s digital skills, particularly in remote and marginalised areas. The programme has provided training to over 11 000 women and entrepreneurs in fields such as e-commerce, social media marketing and artificial intelligence. The initiative aims to promote financial inclusion, support the digital transformation, reduce female unemployment and informality, and to support inclusive economic growth in line with Egypt Vision 2030 (Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, 2023[31]).
Women in Technology – National Council for Women
Women in Technology is an initiative that aims to increase female participation in the ICT sector by providing a range of training opportunities, including digital skills development in artificial intelligence, data science and cloud computing. The initiative was launched in 2023 in partnership with Huawei Technologies and is expected to train 2 000 women over two years, providing them with certification and better access to job opportunities in the sector (Government of Egypt, 2023[32]).
Increasing the share of women in leadership positions in Egypt would make more effective use of the country’s talents. It would foster more sensitive organisational cultures and practices (OECD/ILO/CAWTAR, 2020[33]) as well as improving board performance. Empirical evidence suggests that companies lacking board diversity face more governance controversies and higher environmental, social and governance risks (Marshall, Rallis and Moscardi, 2015[34]). In contrast, increased female participation in corporate leadership improves employee retention, company reputation and decision making (Hunt, Layton and Prince, 2015[35]; Thwing Eastman, 2017[36]). Research suggests firms with strong female leadership also enjoy better financial results (Credit Suisse, 2016[37]; Thwing Eastman, Mazzucchelli and Rallis, 2016[38]; Marshall, Rallis and Moscardi, 2015[34]).
In Egypt, rapidly increasing educational attainment among women has not translated into senior roles. What has been described as the “MENA paradox” might be caused by a reduction in public sector employment and the difficulties that highly educated women face in the private sector (Assaad et al., 2020[39]). Women continue to struggle to access managerial and leadership roles in the private sector in Egypt. In 2022, 6% of firms in Egypt had a woman as top manager compared to 15% in OECD countries and globally on average (OECD Development Centre, 2023[14]). In 2024, 22% of senior and middle management positions in Egypt were held by women (ILO, 2024[40]) (Figure 7.5).
Share of women in senior and middle management positions (%), 2025 or latest year available
Note: Data for Lebanon and Tunisia refer to 2019; for Türkiye to 2020; for Iraq to 2021; for Colombia and Chile to 2022; for Jordan to 2023; for Egypt, Italy and Spain to 2024; and for Costa Rica to 2025.
Source: ILO (2025[41]), SDG Indicator 5.5.2 - Proportion of women in senior and middle management positions (%) annual (ILOSTAT data explorer), https://rshiny.ilo.org/dataexplorer99/?lang=en&segment=indicator&id=SDG_B552_NOC_RT_A&channel=ilostat.
Egypt’s actions to promote the representation of women on boards are starting to bear fruit. The Financial Regulatory Authority requires the boards of directors of companies and non-banking financial entities to have at least 25% women members or two women (Resolution No. 2022/48) (AUC Women on Boards Observatory, 2023[42]). The share of women on boards in the non-banking financial sector reached 22% in 2022, followed by the Egyptian Exchange with a 17.3% share, the banking sector with 16.5%, and the public enterprise sector with 9.3% (AUC Women on Boards Observatory, 2023[42]). The Women on Board (WOB) initiative, funded by the American University in Cairo and established under the framework of the National Strategy for the Empowerment of Women 2030, aims to increase the representation of women on corporate boards in Egypt to 30% by 2030. The National Council for Women (NCW) launched initiatives such as the Women in Leadership programme, which provides mentorship and training for female professionals, as well as corporate governance reforms to increase women’s representation in senior roles (NCW, 2024[30]). To further promote the representation of women on boards, the Financial Regulatory Authority's Smart Application for Empowering Women created a database of women who are eligible to become board members of non-banking financial companies. Egypt also launched the Government Excellence Award for Equal Opportunities and Empowering Women in 2022.
To make further progress, Egypt could consider a range of measures used in OECD countries. These might include extending quotas to sectors other than finance, or encouraging companies to set voluntary targets and publicly disclosing progress towards gender equality (OECD, 2023[20]). The government could also support training and mentorship programmes, professional networks, and awareness campaigns (OECD, 2023[20]). For example, in 2021, Malaysia set a 30% target for women in leadership and decision-making roles. Its Corporate Governance Blueprint 2011 requires that women candidates are included in recruitment processes and companies need to explicitly disclose gender diversity policies, targets and measures in annual reports. The Malaysian Code on Corporate Governance 2021 stipulates that if women occupy less than 30% of board seats, the board must disclose its action plan and timeframe to rectify this (Deloitte, 2022[43]).
Social dialogue, including collective bargaining, plays an important role in boosting employment, job quality, workforce skills, productivity and gender equality. Strengthening women’s representation in social dialogues promotes their economic empowerment and job quality and can also help ensure that gender considerations are included in negotiations. Countries where social dialogue is strong seem to have greater gender parity, with companies and countries with greater collective bargaining coverage having smaller pay gaps between men and women (OECD/ILO/CAWTAR, 2020[33]).
Egypt has strengthened the institutionalisation of gender considerations in wage-setting. Prime Ministerial Decision No. 2659/2020 reconstituted the National Council for Wages (originally established by Resolution No. 983/2003) to further define its functions and include the National Council for Women in its membership. This provides an important platform to integrate gender equality objectives – including equal pay – into wage-setting dialogues (NCW, 2024[30]).
The scope of social dialogue has evolved to include other essential elements of job quality for women. These include equal access to jobs and training, access to parental leave beyond the minimum duration established by the law, and the prevention of and protection from violence against women and girls in the workplace (ILO, 2021[44]). Social dialogue and collective bargaining can also contribute to combatting informal employment, by supporting the enforcement of labour, tax and social security regulations (OECD, 2024[2]).
Information on the role of women in social dialogue and its impact on their economic empowerment in Egypt is limited but wider regional data point to gender gaps in representation. An ILO Bureau of Workers’ Activities survey found that 25% of union executive committee members in the Arab States are women, compared to 34% globally and 45% in North America (ILO, 2021[44]).
The Egyptian Government has made significant efforts to foster greater participation, representation, and leadership by women across the tripartite partners – government, unions and employers. In 2019, the Ministry of Labour (formerly Ministry of Manpower) established a Gender and Non-Discrimination Unit through a Ministerial Decree. This unit, in collaboration with the NCW, ensures that gender perspectives are integrated into various fields of work and recommends new laws and programmes to enhance women's economic and social empowerment. Specifically, the unit monitors the application of women's employment provisions, reviews complaints and takes any action needed to resolve them. It also promotes a culture of gender equality through awareness campaigns, training and workshops, and awards an Excellence label to companies making significant progress in achieving gender equality. In 2021, Egypt launched the Egyptian Gender Equity Seal certification process for private sector entities that aim to promote gender equality in the workplace.
On the trade union side, initiatives have aimed to encourage women’s participation in union structures and leadership. These include capacity-building activities and targeted awareness campaigns by national trade union federations, often in collaboration with the Ministry of Labour and the NCW (OECD/ILO/CAWTAR, 2020[33]). The government also passed a new Trade Unions Law in 2017, stipulating that trade union boards should ensure adequate representation of women and youth whenever possible. The law was amended in 2019 to allow employees of small companies to establish syndicates, reducing the required number of members for union recognition from 150 to 50. As women are more likely to be employed in small companies, this amendment aims to increase their participation in trade unions.
The Federation of Egyptian Industries, one of the country's largest employers’ associations, established a Women in Business (WiB) Unit in 2014. The Unit aims ensure gender perspectives are included in its strategies and actions, promote policies and legal changes supporting women in the industrial sector, and develop a favourable environment for women in the workplace. The WiB provides training, support and advocacy, particularly for women entrepreneurs and human resources (HR) specialists. It created a Human Resources and Gender Academy to train HR managers to create more gender-sensitive work environments and has organised conferences to highlight women's roles in the industry (OECD/ILO/CAWTAR, 2020[33]).
Setting measurable objectives can be effective in boosting women's voice and agency. For example, in 2017 the Tunisian General Labour Union implemented a quota requiring two women in each of its decision-making bodies. Supported by the ILO, this initiative led to an additional 13 000 women members. Many countries have implemented reserved seats on executive bodies and proportional representation of women in decision-making roles, reflecting their membership in the organisation (ILO, 2021[44]). Such measures should be complemented by training to ensure women can assume leadership positions and meet the quota.
Violence and harassment at the workplace are a common phenomenon everywhere. A global survey found in 2021 that one in five people who have worked at some point in their lifetime report experiencing some form of violence and harassment at work. Among this group, 33% of women reported there was a sexual element to the violence or harassment, compared to 15% of the men (Lloyd’s Register Foundation, 2021[45]). While no recent data for all workers in Egypt have been found, a survey of healthcare workers in Egypt conducted in 2023 shows that about 6.8% of them had experienced sexual harassment in the workplace in the year prior to the survey (Allam et al., 2025[46]).
In 2021, Egypt strengthened the legal framework on sexual harassment, increasing the penalties for perpetrators. Decree No. 827/2021 improved the service provision for survivors/victims of violence, stipulating a comprehensive definition of violence that covers all types of abuse and in all places (OECD Development Centre, 2023[14]). The new Labour Law No. 14 of 2025 also prohibits harassment, bullying, or any form of verbal, physical, or psychological violence against the worker (Arab Republic of Egypt, 2025[13]). The government is also working with employers to prepare a code of conduct for establishments to eliminate violence and harassment in the workplace.
There is also evidence that sexual harassment in public transportation limits women's mobility and safety in Egypt, curtailing their access to work. In a study of mobility in Cairo, Christensen and Osman (2023[47]) report a high risk of harassment on public transport for women. To tackle violence against women and girls in public transport, the NCW launched the Don’t Let a Station Stop You campaign in in metro stations to raise awareness about combating sexual harassment, among other goals (NCW, 2024[30]). Women-only services have been introduced, such as dedicated sections in metro lines and women-only buses, to provide safer travel options for female passengers (CODATU, 2018[48]).
There have also been efforts to tackle sexual harassment in higher education. The Women’s Empowerment initiative of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), has launched a programme focusing on combating sexual harassment faced by women in Egyptian universities. This involves the development of university policies and procedures to strengthen institutional mechanisms against violence, establishing anti-sexual harassment units across 23 governorates (UNFPA, n.d.[49]). The NCW also established 42 Anti-Violence Units in universities to raise awareness of women’s rights in cases of sexual harassment, provide reporting mechanisms, co-ordinate with relevant authorities and offer support to victims (NCW, 2024[30]).
Improving gender equality in the labour market is a crucial element of achieving gender equality and women’s empowerment in Egypt, as well as economic growth. Overall, improving opportunities for women will stem from the creation of good quality jobs for the whole population, with measures to promote economic growth, make the labour market more flexible and support jobseekers (OECD, 2024[2]). But specific measures are also needed to address the obstacles that limit women’s labour force participation and their opportunities to access good jobs.
Recommendation 1. Strengthen enforcement of equal pay and anti-discrimination laws
Strengthening the existing legislative framework promoting women’s employment rights in Egypt, as well as enforcing existing legislation, will help to increase women’s labour force participation. To this end, Egypt can:
Policy consideration 1. Pursue the enforcement of labour rights, health and safety regulation, and legislative efforts to regulate and protect domestic workers.
Policy consideration 2. Continue to pursue the enforcement of workplace harassment regulations and service provision for survivors/victims of violence.
Policy consideration 3. Pursue the further lifting of restrictions on women’s right to work in certain sectors and consider legislation to criminalise discrimination against women.
Recommendation 2. Support women’s formalisation through simplified procedures and targeted incentives
Closing the gender gap in earnings and job quality in Egypt requires action to promote access to formal jobs. To this end, Egypt can:
Policy consideration 1. Remove the threshold below which social security contributions are exempted, while further reducing social security contribution rates for lower paid workers to encourage formalisation.
Policy consideration 2. Further streamline formalisation and compliance processes to continue progress in promoting the formal economy.
Recommendation 3. Introduce pay transparency measures and promote sensitive corporate practices between women and men
Encouraging all employers to treat men and women equally will help to ensure good working conditions and career opportunities for women. To this end, Egypt can:
Policy consideration 1. Consider introducing pay transparency measures requiring companies to report gender-disaggregated pay information to government entities and the public.
Policy consideration 2. Continue to develop and disseminate up-to-date gender-disaggregated and gender-relevant data to monitor progress towards gender equality in the labour market and to allow the assessment of implemented policies.
Policy consideration 3. Encourage private sector employers to adhere to the Egyptian Gender Equity Seal certification process.
Policy consideration 4. Support women’s representation and participation in social dialogue, notably encouraging social partners to set measurable objectives.
Recommendation 4. Increase women’s access to leadership positions
Having more women in leadership roles will promote career opportunities for women and help foster gender sensitive cultures. To this end, Egypt can:
Policy consideration 1. Pursue efforts to increase the representation of women on corporate boards in Egypt to 30% by 2030.
Policy consideration 2. Encourage employers to set voluntary targets for women on boards in sectors other than finance, publicly disclose progress towards gender equality, and support training and mentorship programmes, professional networks and awareness campaigns targeted at women professionals.
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← 1. According to the OECD Job Quality Framework, job quality includes earnings quality, or the extent to which labour market earnings contribute to worker’s well-being; labour market insecurity, defined as the aspects of economic security related to the risks of job loss and its cost for workers; and the quality of the working environment (Cazes, Hijzen and Saint-Martin, 2015[50]).
← 2. Including that of the International Labour Organization concerning equal pay, non-discrimination, and protection from workplace harassment and violence.
← 3. In the private sector, the contribution rate was reduced from 40% to 29.75% of gross earnings compared to the old scheme (Law 79/1975). Out of the total contribution rate, 19.75% is now paid by the employer and 11.00% by the employee.