By Fawwaz Baktee
When we celebrate International Women’s Day and annually dedicate 8 March to our female co-workers, wives, sisters and mothers, do we also consider the challenges they face in order to achieve success?
NTUC Women’s Committee Chairperson K. Thanaletchimi said: “Women in Singapore have their own unique sets of challenges. And these hurdles would be even greater to cross without the support of the Government, employers, community, and family.”
Since independence, women in Singapore have progressed by leaps and bounds and have contributed much to the country’s political, social and economic advancements. Today, they make up 23 per cent of parliamentarians as compared to only 4.6 per cent in 1965, 35.8 per cent of union leaders, and over 45 per cent of Singapore’s workforce.
FLEXIBLE WORK ARRANGEMENTS
“Yes, the participation of women in leadership roles and the workforce is important and I’m glad it has improved tremendously. But we must not forget to note that today, many women find it a challenge to balance work and family life,” said Ms Thanaletchimi.
The Labour Movement has been advocating for the implementation of flexible work arrangements (FWA) at the workplace and has worked with 150 companies through the WorkPro Work-Life Grant and the U Flex Family-Friendly Grant to benefit more than 20,000 employees as of December 2015.
“We need to make FWA pervasive across all industries. The Women’s Committee will continue to champion for this, and we hope to make every company a family-friendly one. But the Labour Movement cannot do this alone. All stakeholders need to do their part,” she added.
WOMEN WORKFORCE PARTICIPATION
As the workforce participation rate of women between the ages of 25 to 54 stood at an all-time high of 77.1 per cent in 2015, the NTUC Women’s Committee is now looking forward to working with women organisations and lobby groups to assist in further increasing this percentage.
“This is a fundamental issue we need to address. All women should be given the choice to stand on their own two feet and be financially able. Women’s dignity must be respected. Hopefully, they will in turn nurture the next generation with these values,” said Ms Thanaletchimi.
There is also the challenge for women who are re-entering the workforce after putting their careers on hold to take care of their families.
Ms Thanaletchimi said that when these women finally decide to come back to the workforce, they might find their skills outdated.
“For example, a female engineer who has left the industry for 10 years might find that she’s lacking the necessary skills to keep up once she comes back to work. We, as a Labour Movement, must do our part to reskill these women and help them transit back into the workforce through our continued advocacies,” she explained.
Source: NTUC This Week
