Employers unveil key strategies to advance gender equality

Experts expect 31% of companies to achieve workplace parity by 2025.

More Singapore firms are progressing in gender equality, with communication services and healthcare and life sciences sectors showing the most improvement.

According to ManpowerGroup, 21% of Singapore companies achieved gender equality in 2024 and will grow to 31% by 2025.

By next year, 43% of companies will also be close to full gender equality, up from 34% in 2024.

Meanwhile, ManpowerGroup expects the percentage of companies still far from gender equality to decrease from 6% to 5%, whilst those reasonably far from equality to drop from 36% to 18%.

Key strategies driving gender equality progress in recruitment and retention include supporting employee well-being (43%), fostering trust within teams (43%), and evaluating flexibility policies (41%).

Additional strategies include implementing policies for equal career development opportunities (40%), recognising employees for fostering diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts (39%), and offering support for employees with caregiving responsibilities (39%).

Employers also focused on analysing DEI challenges to find solutions (38%) and tracking promotion outcomes for employee programs (38%).

Other measures include mentoring and training employees across working models (37%), auditing DEI policies and programs (37%), and communicating proactively with diverse teams (36%).

“We're witnessing a positive shift in the corporate landscape, with more companies than ever committed to gender equality. Organisations recognise that diversity and inclusion are not just moral imperatives, they're also smart business strategies. By creating diverse and inclusive workplaces, organisations can unlock innovation, improve decision-making, and enhance their bottom line," said Linda Teo, country manager of ManpowerGroup Singapore.

In addition to gender equality, companies in Singapore are making progress on pay equity initiatives, with 61% on track, reflecting a 6% year-on-year improvement.

Leading sectors in pay equity progress are Transport, Logistics, and Automotive (80%), with Communication Services (74%), Financials and Real Estate (71%), and Healthcare and Life Sciences (69%) following. Information Technology made the least progress at 52%.