Quotas for women in workforce fastest option
View(s):theQuotas for women have proven to be the fastest way to increase participation by this group across several countries. But, considering the issues that could crop up, a limited time frame, 20 years, for example, may be considered to foster a better result,according to Dr. Astrid Tuminez, Regional Director, Legal and Corporate Affairs, South East Asia (SEA), Microsoft Corporation.
However, she was also of the view that women in Asia were doing much better in terms of private sector participation than their counterparts in the west. She revealed that SEA, in particular, had 32 per cent participation by women in the workforce (beating the G7), while China boasted 51 per cent women in the workforce, and Thailand topped the list in terms of the number of female Chief Executives.
A keynote speaker at the recent SLASSCOM CXO Breakfast Briefing on “Increasing Diversity and Inclusiveness in the Contemporary Workforce”, Dr. Tuminez was also joined at the event by panellists Sandra De Zoysa, Director, SLASSCOM, and Group Chief Customer Officer, Dialog Axiata PLC; Nilusha Ranasinghe, Head of ACCA Sri Lanka and Maldives; Chandi Dharmaratne, HR Director, Virtusa; Lakmini Wijesundera, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, for Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa, Iron One Technologies; Kanishka Weerasinghe, Deputy Director General, Employers Federation of Ceylon; and Samadani Kiriwandeniya, Chairperson, SANASA Development Bank.
Dr. Tuminez noted that some of the areas in which Asia can improve were representation of women on corporate boards, currently at 1.1 to 12.3 per cent in SEA, and just 0.9 per cent in Japan, as well as politics where women made up only 4 to 10 per cent in Asia, topped by New Zealand and Australia, which had the most number of female lawmakers. She also highlighted the fact that women’s representation in peace negotiation was just 2 per cent, even though women and children were frequently the most impacted by conflict worldwide.
Dr. Tuminez also highlighted the ‘leaking pipeline’ which refers to a concept where, while women perform well at the secondary education stage and during workforce entry, most leave the workforce when they feel they have to bear children, indicating that the companies they work for are not adequately supportive of their roles as mothers.
She also showcased the example of South Korea where a 10 per cent nominal increase in the number of managers was shown to correlate to a one per cent increase in profitability.
Commenting on her own industry, IT, she said that, while 60 to 70 per cent of companies often complain that they cannot fill ongoing talent gaps, the answer could possibly be staring them in the face, i.e. women. She also indicated that the UNDP also estimated that the global economy loses US$ 89 billion due to the lack of full contribution of women.
Also sharing her thoughts at the event, Ms. Kiriwandeniya commented that, while almost 70 per cent of the economy was due to small and medium enterprises (SMEs), there was only about 10 per cent participation by women. Further, she also revealed that, while women dominate in the running of micro finance companies, it is only when these companies grow to become small scale enterprises and its registration is carried out by a close male relative who has more time at their disposal, is their ownership recorded. It is at that point that these small companies are headed by men in an official sense while, all along, women continue to run day-to-day operations.
Ms. Kiriwandeniya also signalled that, while quotas were a good idea in principle, gender-based ones resulted in the hiring of the least threatening and disruptive alternatives, and positive changes to corporate culture were circumvented. She also advised that any quotas should take into account soft skills, life experiences, etc aiming at greater diversity.