Singapore-listed companies: StarHub, Singtel, and DBS amongst the top companies for gender equality

Equileap, the London-based organization that aims to accelerate gender equality, has come up with a list of 200 top performing companies for gender equality. According to the list, General Motors took the number one spot, followed by French-based companies L’Oreal, and Kering. Singapore-based telco major, StarHub was ranked at the fifth spot. StarHub also became the top performer in gender-equality in Asia-Pacific region.

The list also included two other companies from Singapore- known as Singtel, ranked at 147 and DBS which was ranked at 192.

Equileap research ranked organizations not only on pay and reputation of women on boards but looked at 19 different factors including benefits such as shared parental leaves, etc. Diana van Maasdijk, CEO at Equileap shares, “True gender equality is not just about pay and the representation of women on boards- it is a far more complex issue. That is why our research looks at 19 different factors including benefits. We want to see a level playing field for every employee, not just women.”

The study also found that only five companies out of the overall list of 200 companies showed specific data backing a claim of gender pay equality in the top, middle and bottom pay bands. The top five companies included Agilent Technologies (USA), Enbridge (Canada), General Motors (USA), Link Administration (Australia), and StarHub (Singapore).

Earlier this year in March, DBS Group Holdings and City Developments Limited of Singapore have made it to the 2018 edition of Bloomberg's Gender Equality Index. The index measures gender equality across internal company statistics, employee policies, external community engagement, and gender-conscious product offerings.

According to a report published by GrandThornton International Ltd.’s in March this year- Annual Women in the Business report, businesses in Singapore are motivated to introduce gender equality policies to enhance company performance (84%), live up to organizational values (82%), and attract and keep employees (72%). The top three common gender equality policies adopted by companies in Singapore were paid parental leave (80%), equal pay for both men and women performing the same roles (76%), and non-discrimination policies for recruitment (74%).