The results come from the 11th annual 2018 Hays Asia Salary Guide, which tracks wages and recruiting trends from more than 3,000 employers polled in mainland China, Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia and Singapore. The survey also shows that the number of companies in Singapore with a formal diversity policy dropped from 58% to 53%. For those with a formal diversity policy, 29% say they follow it "well."
Also on the decline are firms that offer flexible working schedules, which was 67% last but has since dropped to 62%.
"We are seeing some gains in gender diversity in Singapore in certain sectors, but we need more women rising up the ranks in business so there is a pipeline of talent to the top including board roles," says Lynne Roeder, managing director of Hays in Singapore. "If businesses are to manage ever increasing levels of complexity and challenge, they will need a diversity of thinking in their management ranks and gender diversity is a big part of that."