The majority of Singapore workers feel that gender pay equality (47%) and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) (43.1%) within their companies have not seen improvements in the past three years. It was revealed by the ADP Research Institute’s People at Work 2023: A Global Workforce View. Over 43% of workers feel the same way when it comes to DEI policies.
Yvonne Teo, Vice President of HR, APAC, ADP, says, “This stagnation is concerning when compared to the rest of APAC as it suggests that Singapore-based companies, which depend heavily on human capital, have not kept up with the rest of the region with regards to inclusivity.”
It is important for businesses to address these differences, as Singapore has a multi-ethnic workforce as well as an increasingly global labour pool. Failing to address DEI and gender equality practices can have considerable repercussions on talent retention, as talented employees might look at greener pastures where their differences are valued.
“Companies can address this issue in different ways. Payroll data – often considered a back-office function – is an important tool to identify and provide C-suites with information on gender or ethnic pay gaps. Companies should also consider investing regularly in the promotion of new roles and job openings to a different cohort of applicants while supporting internal initiatives that foster connections and champion diversity,” she said.
Common DEI Initiatives & Practices When it comes to listing DEI practices their companies participate in, most employees cite training (47%), awareness events (30%) and mentoring (27%) as the most common practices. However, when employees are asked what DEI practices they personally perceive as most effective – while most employees agree that training (27%) is important – many employees (13.9%) feel that a ‘review of company demographics to identify areas of improvement’ should be done.
The corresponding chart can be found in Appendix 1 (above). These findings come from the recent People at Work 2023 report, where ADP Research Institute surveyed 32,612 workers in 17 countries around the world between 28 October and 18 November 2022 including over 8,613 working exclusively in the gig economy.
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