As part of an effort to reduce the 2.4 billion Saudi riyals, or $640 million, spent on unemployment benefits last year alone, the ministry gave Glowork access to all its unemployment data, including 1.6 million résumés, 1.2 million of them from women. Glowork will be paid a fee for every candidate who finds a job.

Reaching out to Glowork is one of several changes affecting women in the Saudi workplace.

Adel Fakieh, the Saudi labor minister, appointed in August 2010, has pushed through a “feminization” program that has included replacing the men who work in sales at lingerie stores with women.

That may seem humorous, but it was important for gender equality in a country where religious conservatives deem it inappropriate for women to work outside the home.