Global recruitment firm Hays has issued a report in Asia which assesses the salary and trends in the workplace.

The number of women in management roles in Hong Kong has fallen, according to global recruitment firm Hays - a development that comes in spite of efforts by firms to increase gender diversity.

The 2018 Hays Asia Salary Guide, published just before International Women’s Day, happening today, highlights salary and recruiting trends based on responses from more than 3,000 employers across mainland China, Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia and Singapore. 

Last year’s research showed women held 33 per cent of management roles in Hong Kong, but the share in the latest research has fallen to 29 per cent.

Malaysia is the stand-out country with women filling 38 per cent of management roles followed by mainland China at 37 per cent. Singapore ranks third with 30 per cent of women in management roles. 

Hong Kong was placed in fourth, just in front of Japan, where women fill only 22 per cent of management roles.

Diversity policy
Malaysia ranks first with 54 per cent of companies reporting they have a formal diversity policy in place compared to 53 per cent in Singapore, 52 per cent in Japan and 51 per cent in Mainland China.

Of the employers surveyed in Hong Kong, only 47 per cent have a formal diversity policy – an increase from 46 per cent last year. 

And of the companies in Hong Kong that do have a formal diversity policy in place, 11 per cent said they are struggling to adhere to it. While a disappointing 42 per cent are unsure how well their organisation is managing adherence. Only 28 per cent claimed to adhere to their policy ‘fairly well’ and 19 per cent ‘well’.

“We are seeing some gains in gender diversity in Hong Kong 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,” said Dean Stallard, managing director of Hays in Hong Kong and South China. “Our guide shows organisations in Hong Kong – and elsewhere in Asia - continue to struggle with the diversity issue – but 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.”

Dean added: “Having a formal diversity policy appears part of the issue, yet even those that do have a formal policy fail to adhere to it a large part of the time. Flexible work arrangements are an important way to retain talent who may also have family responsibilities no matter what their gender.”

This report comes as wealth managers say they want to improve opportunities for women. Large gaps remain, however. This publication recently reported a study by INSEAD, the Emerging Markets Institute, which found financial services and technology companies across Asia-Pacific must work harder to give women greater opportunities to ascend to boardroom level.

This isn’t the only study to find a lack of women in management roles within the financial services sector. WBA reported a survey by Preqin, in October 2017, which found that the alternatives assets industry in areas such as hedge funds and private equity are dominated by men and the representation of women becomes lower among boardroom roles.