KUALA LUMPUR: More Malaysian companies are answering the government's call to increase women's participation in the workforce.
Commending these companies, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak cited PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) as an example, being the first among the ‘Big Four’ to provide 90-days maternity leave for its female employees.
In a blog posting today, Najib wrote that it is not only PwC which had taken the initiative to empower women. Sunway Group, he noted, has 26 per cent of women in senior management levels while CIMB has also been making strides with their Staff Rejuvenation Programme.
"I have long been an advocate of gender diversity and family-friendly policies and with the advancement of technology, it is now easier than ever to make this a norm in our workforce, giving employees the flexibility, not just to attend to their personal needs but to also rejuvenate their minds."
Najib said that as the nation marches towards 2020, he wants to encourage the private sector to embrace family-friendly policies and gender diversity in their workforce.
On Monday, the prime minister had met with representatives of women in the workforce at a dialogue session organised by the Talent Corporation Malaysia (TalentCorp).
The meeting held at his office was to enable Najib to listen to the opinions and views of representatives of women who returned to work under the Career Comeback Programme.