The latest whitepaper from recruitment firm Robert Walters showed that 39 per cent of women surveyed in Vietnam feel they are inadequately represented in business leadership positions, while 80 per cent of male respondents believe women have sufficient representation.

The Empowering Women in the Workplace paper also revealed that 44 per cent of respondents in Vietnam agree that women make up more than 20 per cent of leadership positions at their organizations.

Sixty-one per cent believe that there are strong female leaders within their organizations that they can look upon as role models.

“While gender equality is improving in Vietnam, there is still potential to groom and develop more female leaders in the workplace,” said Thanh Le, Associate Director, Commerce & HR & IT at Robert Walters Vietnam. 

“For Vietnamese women attempting to balance their professional and personal family commitments, employers could consider offering them flexible working options and clear career progression pathways.”

The whitepaper is based on a survey conducted in January to better understand existing perceptions of gender diversity across key markets in Asia Pacific. 

The survey gathered the views of over 4,400 clients and active job seekers across Australia, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam.

The survey also found that 48 per cent of women in Vietnam think their current employer has clear and enforced policies on gender diversity, equality and inclusion. 

Seventy-four per cent of women acknowledge the presence of fair and equal representation of female business leaders in their organization.

When asked to name the top three reasons why women are under-represented, 32 per cent of all respondents in Vietnam cited family pressures or commitments outside of work.

Additionally, 26 per cent believe women face difficulties returning to work after having children, and 14 per cent attribute this to a workplace culture that does not actively foster diversity, inclusion and equality.

Robert Walters, established in 1985, is an award-winning business and one of the world’s largest professional recruitment consultancies. 

The Vietnamese office specializes in placing candidates on a permanent or contract basis in the following disciplines and industries: accounting & finance, banking & financial services, engineering, legal, human resources, information technology, sales & marketing, supply chain, procurement & logistics, and technical healthcare.

VN Economic Times