Workplace discrimination in S'pore falls to 6% in 2023

However, fewer employees who experienced discrimination sought help.

The proportion of employees and job seekers facing discrimination in Singapore declined to 6% in 2023 from 8.2% in 2022, continuing a downward trend since 2018, according to a Ministry of Manpower (MoM) report.

Discrimination during job searches also slightly decreased, with 23.4% of job seekers reporting discrimination in 2023, compared to 23.8% in 2022.

However, only 29.3% of employees who experienced discrimination sought help in 2023, down from 35.3% in 2022, due to fears of being marginalised (24.4%) or concerns about detrimental career impact (18.2%).

The ministry stressed that under the Workplace Fairness Legislation, employees are protected from retaliation for reporting discrimination. Confidence and trust can be built towards formal channel through greater transparency in data regarding workplace discrimination, firmer stances, and action against errant employees, it added.

Age discrimination remained the most common form at 2.6%, followed by race (1.7%), nationality, and mental health (1.6% each). Unfair treatment was most often linked to salary (43.4%), bonus (26.8%), workload distribution (33.7%), and workplace interactions (26.8%).

Age discrimination was also the most prevalent (18.1%) during job search, followed by race (5.1%), and nationality (4.8%). Age and nationality discrimination saw a rise for the first time in 2023, despite an overall decline in recent years.

The most common source of discrimination for job seekers was job advertisements specifying demographic preferences (45.7%), followed by requests for irrelevant personal information (28.3%). 

MoM recommended that employers review job application forms to ensure that each field is relevant to the job, and to communicate why the information is needed. 

Meanwhile, 63.2% of employees in 2023 worked in firms with formal procedures to manage workplace discrimination, up from 59.8% in 2022– a positive sign of improving workplace fairness, MoM said.

MoM found that formal procedures significantly reduced the likelihood of discrimination across most forms, except for mental health.