Why more women are needed in the workplace

Gender inequality is no longer an issue in many developed countries, which can be evidently seen in their increasing number of educated women. However, more needs to be done to close the gender gap in the workplace.

According to the United Nation's Human Development report, Singapore is the top Asian country for gender equality. In 2014, the employment rate for women in the country was at 76 per cent for the prime working ages of 25 to 54, making it one of its highest levels.

However, when it came to senior management levels, women were still under-represented.

There are several reasons why more women need to enter the workforce. With the fourth industrial revolution, it is now easier for women to be gainfully employed and contribute to the economy. In addition, more women entering the workforce may help increase the birth rate, which could solve the population ageing issue in many developed countries.

1. The nature of the workplace has been transformed, making it crucial that women contribute to the economy.

We have entered the fourth industrial revolution, which is characterised by the rise in artificial intelligence. This refers to the ability of a machine to copy intelligent human behaviour. Manufacturers will therefore use robotics to assist their workers. This will lead to a decrease in the number of routine or physically demanding jobs.

At the same time, jobs that require problem solving, flexible responses and customisation will rise. This entails that the workforce will require more highly skilled workers in order to remain competitive.

Hence, women should be encouraged to put their skills and abilities to use in the formal economy.

Furthermore, women are naturally more conditioned in certain skills, such as multitasking and nurturing. This means that increasing the participation of women at work will make the workforce more competitive.

In fact, many companies regard tapping into the female talent pool as essential for workforce planning. Female talent was also identified as an important feature of future workforce strategy.

2. Gender equality in the workplace generally leads to higher fertility rates

Many developed countries such as Singapore, Taiwan and Hong Kong are facing low fertility rates. This consequently leads to issues such as population ageing and a less productive workforce.

One of the ways to combat this issue is to encourage more women to find employment. This is because this is likely to lead to higher fertility rates.

It has been shown that countries with high female labour force participation rates also tend to have higher fertility rates - More women entering the workforce meant that they were able to balance family and work, which encouraged them to have more children.

An example is France, where pro-natal policies that focused on work-life balance and the importance of having a family had made it successful in increasing its fertility rate to the replacement level of 2.1.

However, it is important to note that this does not apply to every country. In 2016, Singapore had a fertility rate of 0.82, which was the lowest in the world. This was despite there being gender equality in the workplace.

In conclusion, it is essential for women to contribute to the economy by finding employment.

Getting more women to work may also result in higher fertility rates, which could solve the issue of population ageing that has become prevalent in many countries, especially developed ones.

Amanda Ong Ee Ying is an 18-year-old who is currently awaiting her A-level results. Her email address is ongamanda98@gmail.com.