By closing the wage gap between male and female employees last year, Citibank Taiwan demonstrated that it leads the Taiwanese corporate sector in promoting equal wages and gender equality concepts, which has helped the company improve employee benefits and foster a diverse and inclusive corporate culture.
Citibank cited an internal annual report comparing employee wages across all Citibank branches worldwide.
In last year’s report, the median wage for female employees — 73 percent of their male colleagues’ median wage — was a 2 percentage point improvement from 2018.
Photo: Citibank Taiwan
“As a global bank, Citigroup has a responsibility to make the economy better. This can be realized by fostering a more diverse and inclusive corporate culture, and supporting more women to be appointed to management,” Citibank Taiwan chairman Paulus Mok (莫兆鴻) said. “Citigroup places great emphasis on gender equality and is committed to seeing the concept implemented across its Taiwanese branches. We hope that our efforts on the issue will eventually influence the public.”
Citigroup has for the 14th consecutive year been listed on the Bloomberg Gender Equality Index, showing that it is among 325 corporations worldwide who give great weight to the issue.
Its number of female employees recruited in the Asia region increased 4 percentage points from 2018 to 55 percent last year, Citigroup statistics show.
Taiwan, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand have seen significant growth in the number of female employees, at 3 percent, 18 percent, 8 percent and 4 percent respectively, the statistics show.
More than half of its 50,000 employees in Asia are women, Citigroup said.
Citigroup cited the male-to-female employee ratio in Taiwan as an index for the banking sector.
Women comprised 70 percent of all employees in Taiwan, with more than 60 percent of high-level managers also being women, surpassing not only all other banks, but also Citigroup’s worldwide ratio of 33 percent.
The company has a special project aimed at female managers for them to learn and interact with others, an experience that would motivate them with regards to their career development, Citigroup said.
“Creating a work environment in which employees can be confident and live up to their potential is always Citigroup’s primary goal in fostering human talent,” Citibank Taiwan’s head of human resources Winifred Dente (劉愛璇) said. “We believe that everyone is equal at work, regardless of gender. Embracing an inclusive corporate culture will help strengthen the company’s competitive edge and is crucial for enabling corporate sustainable development.”
Citigroup goes beyond closing the wage gap and employment ratio, instituting benefits and backing up its claims with action, so that it can be there for its employees at every stage of their lives.
Starting on Jan. 1, maternity leave at Citigroup has been extended to 16 weeks and paternity leave to four weeks, while adoption leave has been extended to four weeks, the company said.
The 2018 establishment of the Citi Women’s Network social group gives Citibank Taiwan employees any assistance necessary, ranging from career advice to raising children.
The social group, working with Citibank Taiwan’s human resources department, arranged a series of events celebrating the International Women’s Day yesterday as a token of gratitude for their hard work.
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