KUALA LUMPUR, March 7 — A greater focus on gender diversity needs to be a goal for employers in Malaysia in 2018 after new research shows the number of women in management is increasing but at a slower pace, according to recruiting experts Hays.
This is just one of the key findings from the 2018 Hays Asia Salary Guide which, in its 11th year, highlights salary and recruiting trends based on responses from more than 3,000 employers across mainland China, Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia and Singapore.
Last year’s salary guide showed women held 35 per cent of management roles in Malaysia with the figure reported in the latest research at 38 per cent.
The 2018 Asia Salary Guide also shows a small increase in the number of organisations with a formal gender diversity policy in Malaysia from 52 per cent to 54 per cent.
“We are seeing some gains in gender diversity in Malaysia in certain sectors, but we need more women rising up the ranks in business so there is a pipeline of talent to the top including board roles,” said Tom Osborne, regional director of Hays in Malaysia.
“Our guide shows organisations in Malaysia — and elsewhere in Asia — continue to struggle with the diversity issue but if businesses are to manage ever increasing levels of complexity and challenge, they will need a diversity of thinking in their management ranks and gender diversity is a big part of that,” said Osborne.
Malaysia (38 per cent) is top of the pack of five countries surveyed regarding women in management positions. Mainland China is second with 37 per cent.
Singapore ranks third with 30 per cent of women in management roles. In Hong Kong the figure is just 29 per cent and in Japan, women fill only 22 per cent of management roles.
Malaysia ranks first with 54 per cent of companies reporting they have a formal gender diversity policy in place compared to 53 per cent in Singapore, 52 per cent in Japan, 51 per cent in Mainland China and 47 per cent in Hong Kong.
