MPs call for lower entry barriers for women rejoining workforce in pandemic

• To help Singapore ride out the economic crisis, more women should join the workforce, say MPs
• However, barriers remain in their access to jobs, such as discrimination during recruitment
• MPs proposed legislation to clamp down on hiring malpractices and introduce flexi-work arrangements to encourage women to join the workforce

SINGAPORE — Several Members of Parliament (MP) called for women to have better access to jobs, arguing that their participation in the workforce is crucial if Singapore is to successfully navigate its way out of the economic crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

During the third day of the parliamentary debate on the President’s Address on Wednesday (Sept 2), the MPs also raised the issue of gender disparity and called for stronger regulations to help women enter the workforce.

Mr Louis Ng, an MP for Nee Soon Group Representation Constituency (GRC), highlighted the disproportionate challenge faced by women in securing jobs, made even more difficult during the pandemic period.

In an online public consultation Mr Ng had conducted on Aug 22, about half of the 255 female respondents had been asked by recruiters if they had children, or planned to do so.

Over 60 per cent of all female respondents had said that they felt that they were unlikely to be hired, and over a third felt they would be offered a lower salary if they had or planned to have children, said Mr Ng who called the results of his consultation “alarming”.

“The unfortunate reality is that study after study shows that at job interviews and at work, many women are second-guessed for no other reason than being a woman and a mother,” he added.

Mr Ng suggested that the Government make it illegal for employers to ask interviewees about their marital status and if they have children, or plan to do so.

Ms Poh Li San, an MP for Sembawang GRC, also made the case for more women to enter the workforce.

With women being “naturally nurturing and resilient”, these qualities will prove crucial in helping Singapore ride out the crisis, she argued.

She called on the Government to encourage qualified Singaporean women, particularly those who have left the workforce to care for families, to fill available positions before the employers consider foreigners.

“These women do have the requisite skill sets, experience and maturity to contribute and lead in the workplace. They just need to be given that opportunity to rejoin the workforce,” said Ms Poh.

One way to encourage this is by making flexi-work arrangements the norm in offices, she added.

First-term MP Ms Carrie Tan also asked the Government to harness the potential of women when rebuilding the economy.

Ms Tan, who is an MP for Nee Soon GRC, highlighted the conflict that women faced in having to choose family over career.

Relating her own decision to pursue her career instead of getting married and bearing children, Ms Tan said that the entry barriers to women entering the workforce need to be lowered so that they could participate in the economy.

Among several measures she proposed was legislating policies to support working caregivers and introducing gender education in schools to reduce the burden on women to be caregivers.