WORKPLACE discrimination in Singapore has continued to decline, with 6 per cent of residents in the labour force experiencing discrimination in 2023, down from 8.2 per cent in 2022, and 8.5 per cent in 2021.
Incidences of discrimination faced by job seekers have also declined slightly, according to data from a Ministry of Manpower (MOM) report released on Tuesday (Sep 24).
Some 23.4 per cent of resident job seekers reported discriminatory treatment during their search, compared with 23.8 per cent in 2022 and 25.8 per cent in 2021.
However, despite the decline in workplace discrimination, a smaller proportion of employees who experienced it chose to seek help.
In 2023, 29.3 per cent of employees who experienced workplace discrimination sought assistance from their employers, down from 35.3 per cent in 2022, but higher than the 20 per cent reported in 2021.
As in previous years, the primary reason for not seeking help – cited by 24.4 per cent of those affected – was the fear of being marginalised or creating awkward work relationships. Concerns about potential harm to their career (18.2 per cent) also played a significant role.
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“These findings suggest the need for more efforts to instil confidence (in) employees to seek help from available channels,” MOM said.
Incidences of workplace and job-search discrimination are assessed based on personal attributes such as age, sex, race, religion, nationality, family status, disability and mental health conditions. In 2023, gender identity and criminal history were added to the list.
Age was still the most common form of discrimination in the workplace, affecting 2.6 per cent of employees in 2023, followed by race (1.7 per cent), nationality (1.6 per cent) and mental health (1.6 per cent).
Employees who faced workplace discrimination most
