Gender inequality has been increasingly observed at workplaces in Singapore. Findings from a recent study by JobStreet.com titled, ‘Women in the Workplace’ involved 480 female respondents in Singapore.
It found that 66% of women workforce in the country is experiencing unfair treatment in terms of career progression opportunities, remuneration, performance appraisal, and recruitment because of their gender.
Other challenges faced by women in the workplace identified in the survey include – having to look after their children while building a career, lack of career advancement opportunities and gender-salary gap.
Country Manager of JobStreet.com Singapore Chook Yuh Yng said, “According to our survey, work-life balance is the top challenge faced by women in the workplace. However, most of them have nochoice but to earn a living. Our survey found that 69 per cent of these females are working for the need to support their families; the need to plan for retirement; and the need to be financially independent.”
Also women in Singapore face challenges in terms of work-life balance, wherein the findings indicate that 75% of working mothers spend less than 10 hours with their children during a workweek. Most of these working mothers are concerned that they are missing out on their families’ everyday lives.
Furthermore, 70% of these women surveyed would actually give up working if they had the financial means to do so.
Nonetheless, the survey reveals a heartening truth: 65 percent of these females say, that their spouses and children understand their sacrifices and time spent away from home.
There are several practices and policies such as Work-Life Strategy and Family Care Leave aimed at helping women juggle their careers and family commitments. These are sound, government-launched strategies that employers can introduce.
For working mothers and females about to start a family, they can utilise JobStreet.com’s Company Reviews to make more informed decisions before accepting any job offers. This easy-to-use feature allows past or current employees to comment on their workplaces. The testimonials reveal insights into the company culture, job benefits and the likes.
