Employers favor females in grim economy: survey

Shanghai (CNS) –Female employees have the jump in a Chinese workplace when the economy is sluggish, according to a survey released by 51 Job Web – a Chinese human resource solutions provider.

In a research released March 7, it showed that companies employing over 500 staff, the female ratio in all divisions except R&D and sales surpass fifty percent, with sectors handling production, advertising and finance dominated by the gentler sex.

Of the 1,262 interviewees probed, 56.3 percent said in their companies the number of female managers is not smaller than the males with that rank. Nevertheless, 92.6 percent admitted that males are still more likely to take the majority of top positions such as CEO in 50 to 75 percent of them.

However 67.3 percent of interviewees said their companies have more females in high-ranking positions than last year.

In a grim economy, females show the invaluable traits that are common to their gender; they can play their roles with innate sensitivity, high endurance and well-honed discipline, said the human resource expert Feng Lijuan.

Feng added that 'bad weather' pushes women to work outside the home to support the family, and women often have lower salary expectations than men, even if they are equally well-educated and qualified.