Malaysia takes top spot for gender diversity in APAC

When it comes to diversity, Malaysia has demonstrated its mettle by topping the APAC region in supporting diversity in gender at the senior levels, beating out Hong Kong, Singapore and China.

With more than a quarter of female senior managers reported in the local workforce (28%), Malaysia compares favourably to Hong Kong at 23%, Singapore at 21.5%, and China at 21%.

India and Japan were pegged low at 9% and 8% respectively, in Kelly Services' new report.

"The findings that Malaysia is the regional leader in gender diversity at senior levels compared to other leading APAC economies are highly significant as there is clear evidence that gender diversity delivers measurable, positive performance outcomes for businesses," said Natalia Shuman, Kelly Services’ senior VP and general manager for EMEA and APAC regions.

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The report pointed to a McKinsey finding, that highlighted how the increasing participation of women in the workforce could potentially increase Malaysia’s GDP between RM6 billion to RM9 billion.

In Malaysia, which is experiencing strong growth alongside a limited talent pool, this is a clear area of opportunity for hiring managers.

"Where there are significant gender inequities in workforces, productivity and innovation lag and a company’s bottom-line is negatively impacted. With gender equity, workforce, productivity and innovation thrives," noted Kelly Services (Malaysia)'s MD, Melissa Norman.

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