Is Singapore’s gender gap here to stay?

Female business leaders are still a minority in Singaporean companies, despite a huge number of women wanting gender balance in the workplace.

According to Randstad, 90% of women agree there should be more female employees in leadership roles but only 54% do not see enough women on boards.

“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,” Michael Smith, country director of Randstad Singapore, said.

“But some currently feel let down by their employer’s ability to achieve this mix.”

Out of 405 Singaporean respondents, more than half (59%) feel implementing gender quotas might help improve female representation in boardrooms, but Smith said it is also important for employers to provide a working environment that encourages women to increase their employability.

“This can be done by adopting measures such as providing training, development and coaching opportunities to support female employees on their career trajectory,” he said.

Locally, 43% of employees also believe women still earn less than their male counterparts, ahead of Hong Kong (40%) and Malaysia (37%), but still behind China (58%) and India (60%).