9 in 10 Singapore workers clamor for 'gender balance' in management spots

Not enough women in workplace, they said.

Nine in 10 (90%) Singaporean employees believe that there should be a gender balance in workplace leadership teams, yet more than half (54%) feel there are not enough women in leadership positions in their workplace.

These were some of the findings in the latest Randstad Workmonitor Report for Q1 2013 released ahead of International Women’s Day.

In a global survey of 14,780 employees from 32 countries, employees in other developed nations are more positive about their company’s attitudes towards promoting women into leadership roles, such as in the United Kingdom (41%), Australia and Canada (40%).

Country Director of Randstad Singapore, Mr. Michael Smith, says while there have been improvements in gender equality in leadership positions in Singapore, it is still work in progress.

“Singaporean employees are indicating they want more females in leadership positions – they know companies need strong leadership to drive the business forward and this needs to be a mix of males and females. But some currently feel let down by their employer’s ability to achieve this mix,” says Mr Smith.

The survey of 405 Singaporean employees also found that three in five (59%) agreed that the proposal of a quota forcing companies to promote more women into leadership positions would work as a lever to get more women into these roles.

“Ultimately, it should be up to employers to actively seek to close this gap by encouraging more women into management positions. This can be done by adopting measures such as providing training, development and coaching opportunities to support female employees on their career trajectory.

“Yet what we’re hearing from Singaporean employees is that they’re not seeing enough action. Implementing a quota, even if it is on a company by company level, will demonstrate to employees that businesses are serious about this issue,” says Mr Smith.

The survey also found that two in five (43%) of Singaporean employees believe women make less money than men in similar roles, which is higher than in Hong Kong (40%) and Malaysia (37%), but lower than China (58%) and India (60%).