Women have it worse, but are more resilient
PETALING JAYA: Women in Malaysia believe they are worse hit than men by the Covid-19 pandemic.
For instance, 45% of women interviewed in a study by international professional network LinkedIn said they were getting fewer opportunities than men, and six out of 10 said they also missed out on a raise or promotion because of their gender.
On the other hand, women seem to be more resilient.
The LinkedIn study showed that many Malaysians have diverted their energies to other useful purposes.
It found that 23% of them were starting new businesses and 33% were using their resources to support their communities by providing items such as sanitisers and face masks.
In both areas, women were leading the charge.
The study, known as the LinkedIn Opportunity Index 2021, is a composite measure “that seeks to understand how people perceive opportunities and gaps that stand in the way of achieving them”, the network said in a statement.
This year’s index focused on the impact of Covid-19 on Malaysians’ access to opportunities, highlighting gender gaps at the workplace and how these have affected women and their opportunities for career development.
Overall, the study showed that nine out of 10 Malaysians feel that Covid-19 has had a negative impact on their work life.
The study showed that six out of 10 Malaysians have been affected in some way by the pandemic, experiencing pay cuts and reduced work hours, leading to a less optimistic economic outlook among the people.
Only 21% of Malaysians expect the economy to improve over the next six months and 19% expect their financial situation to improve over the same period.
To overcome the problems they are facing, 28% of Malaysians were actively seeking mentors, 23% were building or nurturing networks and 21% were mentoring others.
In addition, 26% of Malaysians have begun to look for opportunities to move to a new career path by learning new soft skills such as creative thinking, problem solving and effective communication.
“Many continue to struggle from job losses and instability. Even then, there are people who have turned their focus towards helping others,” said LinkedIn vice-president for learning and talent solutions in the Asia-Pacific, Feon Ang.
The study revealed that the work-from-home concept has been the number one measure taken to ensure safety and wellbeing of employees and this has worked out well for women.
It said 78% of Malaysians have worked from home and women seem to have eased into it better than men.
A total of 34% of women who have taken this option expressed satisfaction with the work-home arrangement, compared with 31% of men.
Women also face more barriers than men where work-related opportunities were concerned, even if both pursued similar goals.
Sixty-five percent of women working from home complained about lack of time and 64% about their financial status. Sixty-one percent of women were short on confidence and fear failure.
Ang said the lack of time is the top barrier for women because they have to struggle between remote work and family responsibilities.
“We also know that women are seeking to get ahead in life, and want equal access to opportunities. As a society, we need to start changing our societal perceptions on gender,” she added.
A group of girls who were kidnapped from a boarding school in Zamfara, Nigeria last week returning home after they were released yesterday. –
WASHINGTON: The Biden administration has backed Democrats’ efforts to overhaul voting rules and turn over the process of drawing congressional districts to independent commissions, weighing in on a political fight that is likely to dominate Washington in coming years.
The United States is facing an “an unprecedented assault on our democracy, a never before seen effort to ignore, undermine, and undo the will of the people, and a newly aggressive attack on voting rights taking place right now all across the country,” President Joe Biden’s office of management and budget said in a statement.
The House of Representatives is set to vote and likely to pass a sweeping election reform bill, HR-1, as soon as this week.
Biden’s fellow Democrats have a majority in the House, but the bill is unlikely to pass the Senate, where the measure would need support from all 50 members of that party caucus, plus 10 Republicans.
Republicans have said the law would take powers away from states and raise fraud concerns.
Democrats have been fighting to expand access to the polls through early voting, vote-by-mail and other measures, efforts that expanded as the coronavirus pandemic raged.
Republicans have been fighting those efforts and pursuing measures to curb access to the polls.
Former President Donald Trump, in his first public speech after his stinging Nov 3 election loss to Biden, last Sunday proposed limiting absentee voting and days when Americans can vote.
Biden beat Trump by more than seven million votes in the 2020 presidential election. Democrats enjoy an advantage over Republicans in voter party affiliation.
Trump never conceded the loss, and some of his supporters violently contested Congress certification of Biden’s win at the Capitol in a deadly Jan 6 riot.
Since then, dozens of Republican lawmakers have introduced bills that would limit voting in states across the country. – Reuters