Getting more women into Fiji’s workforce could help address labour shortages and create a more sustainable labour market, according to Westpac Fiji CEO Shane Smith.
Mr Smith made the comments in an interview with The Fiji Times while discussing Westpac’s Women and Girls Education Grant, which has been supporting education opportunities for girls and women for about 16 years.
He said he had been involved in awarding the grants for the past five years and believed greater investment in girls’ education could have benefits extending beyond the classroom.
Mr Smith said education data showed young girls could fall behind boys in early childhood education, but this changed as they progressed through the education system.
“What’s interesting is as they’re given the opportunity and they progress, the data suggests that they tend to do a lot better at the higher side of primary education, secondary and even tertiary.” he said.
However, he said a significant gap remained between men and women when it came to participation in the labour market.
Mr Smith said available data indicated about 80 per cent of boys and men entered the workforce compared with about 45 per cent of women.
He said supporting girls through primary, secondary and tertiary education could help improve their transition into employment.
“We’ve got some challenges with labour in the country, but imagine what we could achieve if we got more women into the labour workforce,” he said.
Mr Smith said increasing women’s participation could help Fiji address some of its labour challenges while contributing to a more sustainable workforce in the future.
