Increasing women's participation expected to boost GDP by up to 12%
The Malaysian government is targeting an increase in its female labour participation rate to 60% amid challenges in retaining women in the workforce.
Wong Shu Qi, TalentCorp chairman, unveiled the goal as she highlighted the collective commitment between the government and the private sector at the launch of the inaugural Malaysia Women's Empowerment Principles Corporate Action Lab (WEPsCAL) on Tuesday.
"By fostering strong public-private collaboration, we aim to accelerate progress towards achieving a 60% female labour participation rate, creating family-friendly workplaces that support women's return, retention, and advancement, and ensuring equal opportunities for women to contribute and thrive in the workforce," Wong said in a statement.
WEPsCAL, a cohort-based programme, is an initiative under the UN Women Gender Action Lab: Innovation and Impact for Gender Equality in Asia-Pacific platform. It aims to support organisations in assessing current progress and utilising data, tailored tools, and targeted support to co-create and implement actionable gender equality strategies.
At a panel discussion during the launch of WEPsCAL, Wong also underscored how women's labour force participation is not just an issue of gender equality.
"Increasing women's participation in the labour force could boost Malaysia's GDP by seven per cent to 12%. This is not just a gender issue, it's an economic one," she said as quoted by Free Malaysia Today.
Also present during the panel discussion was Shakira Teh Sharifuddin, Senior Economist, The World Bank Group, who underscored Malaysia's retention challenges when it comes to women.
The economist said women's workforce participation in Malaysia is high between the ages of 15 and 29, but they leave in their late 20s or 30s to care for children or elderly family members.
"This is Malaysia's biggest challenge – keeping women in the labour market," she said as quoted by Free Malaysia Today.
Malaysia's labour force participation rate among women is at 51.6% in 2024, much lower than the 78.4% for men, according to data from the World Bank.
"Barriers to female employment include violence at work, legal restrictions, restrictive social norms, and care responsibilities," the World Bank said in its report. "Progress towards women's full participation in the economy could increase economies' GDP."
Source: World Bank
The gender equality at work issue is not limited to Malaysia. Globally, World Bank data show that the female labour participation rate is at 49.1%, lower than the 73.2% for men in 2024.
"Globally, women are less likely than men to participate in the labour market. When women do participate, they are more likely to be in informal, vulnerable, and lower-paying jobs," the World Bank data revealed.
In East Asia and the Pacific, labour force participation among women is only at 58.1%, much lower than the 73% rate of male participation, according to the report.
In Japan, the government has previously asked firms on the Tokyo Stock Exchange's top-tier Prime Market to increase the ratio of female executives to 30% or more by 2030.
However, a survey from Kyodo News of 41 senior women, including CEOs and auditors, found that 54% do not believe this target can be reached.
According to the respondents, including more women in senior roles will need a shift in how top management views the issue (73%), as well as a change in company culture (54%).
