Companies encouraged to tap into women workforce
By Rachel Kelly, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 19 April 2008 0005 hrs

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SINGAPORE: Almost 240,000 jobs were created in Singapore last year, but only 40,000 graduates entered the job market. Given that an NTUC survey showed some 100,000 women are looking for jobs, targeting this group may actually help to ease the talent squeeze.

NTUC deputy secretary-general Halimah Yacob said: "If you look at the statistics, a lot of women enter the workforce. A very high level of participation when the women are in their twenties, but then they start dropping off the labour market when they (are) in their late 20s, early 30s. That indicates to me that the potential is really quite big."

Speaking at UBS' Career Comeback conference on Friday, Minister of State for Finance and Transport Lim Hwee Hua also noted that companies should push forward to diversify their management strength.

"To continue building the leadership pipeline in Singapore and Asia, it is important for organisations and key decision makers to embrace gender diversity and develop a platform to allow women to realise their fullest potential," she said.

UBS has started tapping into the pool of highly-qualified women who had previously left their jobs to look after their children.

Mona Lau, global head of diversity for UBS, said: "We have found that implementing flexible work arrangement actually helps us to save cost. It cuts down on people calling in sick - when their kids are sick, they usually call in and say they are sick. People give you back threefold when you trust them and allow them a certain degree of flexibility."

Industry players said companies in the Asia Pacific could be missing out on as much as S$47 billion in output by not homing in on female talent. - CNA/ac