Citing self-reported company data, Statista revealed that in 2021 female employees makeup between 45% (Amazon), 37% (Facebook), 34% (Apple), 33% (Alphabet/Google) and 29% (Microsoft). As percentages, women holding leadership roles were all lower and those holding tech jobs in the same companies were even lower.
Percentage of female employees in big tech companies

Then came the news that in 2022, tech companies laid off as many as 70,000 employees. TrueUp Tech data is even worst calling out 1,535 rounds of layoffs at tech companies impacting 241,176 people and blaming the layoffs on declining revenues as a result of inflation, supply chain problems and geopolitical turmoil.
In Asia, the layoffs are not as visibly reported but anecdotal discourse with industry, business and technology leaders suggests shortages are an ongoing concern by all. Given that women represent 49.58% of the global population, does this demographic represent a solution to the problem?
The theme for International Women’s Day in 2023, DigitALL: Innovation and technology for gender equality, posits that women only make up 22% of AI workers and that among AI systems found in industries today, 44% demonstrate gender bias – guess who built these systems?
Splunk’s group VP for Asia, Raen Lim, agrees that technology has the potential to help organisations improve DEI, and boost employee performance when implemented effectively.
“At Splunk, we have implemented various processes, tools and education to ensure there is no unconscious bias across our hiring and talent recruitment processes,” she revealed.

“By leveraging technology, we have been able to use data to help us expand inclusivity and provide accessible products and services for underrepresented groups, giving them better chances and opportunities equally.”
Raen Lim
Angie Tay, group COO & EVP for Singapore, Thailand, China & Korea for Singapore-headquartered TDCX, a provider of digital customer experience solutions, says technology can help to reduce bias and to diversify talent pools.
“Organisations are increasingly embedding artificial intelligence (AI) technology into their talent acquisition and management processes to achieve this,” she continued. “Engaging the right technological solutions provides companies with the potential to establish best practices at scale and in turn, achieve operational excellence across the various business units.”
The most prevalent obstacle to diversity and inclusion
Lim cites Asia’s social norms and gender expectations as the main obstacle to diversity and inclusion. She points out that in many Asian countries, women are still expected to focus on family and household responsibilities, ultimately sacrificing more than men to climb the corporate ladder.
“This in turn affects a woman’s work-life balance as they face significant challenges in balancing their work and family responsibilities. It discourages women from pursuing leadership opportunities and limits the number of women advancing in a workplace as many tend to drop out at middle management,” she called.
For Tay, having an awareness of the challenges that those from different backgrounds face is fundamental to diversity and inclusion – irrespective of industry.
She posits that to drive impactful change, we first need to raise awareness. It starts with educating all levels within an organisation to build the grounds for change.
“Then, key stakeholders need to deliver on promises and make concerted efforts to devise a plan and timeline. It is no easy feat and sometimes external support is needed to help comprehend these complex topics, but it is indeed possible with direction, dedication, and patience,” she adds.
Lessons to draw from successful DEI initiatives
Tay claims that the company’s strong commitment to DEI can be seen through the way it hires. “Our proprietary recruitment solution, ‘Flash Hire’, helps us select candidates that best fit the job requirements,” she reveals.
The virtual recruitment platform learns about the characteristics of best performers and applies those insights in the recruitment process, eliminating unconscious bias or assumptions and enabling data-driven decisions.

“To provide a more inclusive work environment, we also created a remote work solution called 'Work@Home' which offers guidance and support to those who may not be able to commute to the office regularly, including women with caregiving responsibilities, older individuals, and those with disabilities.”
Angie Tay
For her part, Lim says the “DEI at Splunk Council” was created to set and track the company’s progress on DEI across all functions and geographies. One of the goals is to recruit potential Splunkers with diverse backgrounds and experiences.
Breaking the women stereotype in leadership roles
According to Tay, the idea of what a good leader looks like first needs to evolve. “Historically, many leadership attributes were associated with masculine traits, resulting in the idea that these are the necessary traits for women to have to lead. This is a challenge faced in many societies, not just in Asia,” she continues.
Tay says gender bias affects women's workplace opportunities by making assumptions about their willingness to travel or commit to projects based on caregiving responsibilities, leading to missed opportunities.
She suggests one solution could be to put decisions through a DEI committee made up of diverse representatives for checks and balances.”
Lim believes that women can take charge and create opportunities for themselves by actively looking out for activities or programs that will contribute to their professional growth.
She says one way is to network beyond their usual circles to build and nurture new relationships from which they can learn. Being confident is also important as you must be vocal and clear on what you can bring to the table with your expertise.
Greater participation in the C-suite
Arguably where women can least be found is in the C-suite. Altrata’s 2022 Global Gender Diversity report estimates that while women account for 19.2% of corporate leadership teams, only 5% of CEOs are women.
Women fare better as board members account for 28.2% among the corporations of the major indices across 20 of the world’s major economies. But arguably the percentages are still low suggesting a long climb ahead.

Lim says companies must first need to be more intentional in giving opportunities to women to empower them to succeed. “Greater women representation and visibility in leadership roles also create a cycle of increased opportunities that will inspire other women to pursue leadership roles,” she opines.
“Second, we’ve seen demand for leadership, development, and mentoring programs, like Splunk’s APAC Women Leadership Workshop, held last November, because they help promote gender equality and empower women, and are thus another meaningful way for women to navigate their careers,” she offers.
Tay suggests one way to groom women leaders is to provide a platform for women to take on projects and showcase their capabilities to senior leadership. This creates an environment for different and perhaps non-conventional leadership styles to thrive and shape new ways of thinking about leadership.
She suggests other tactics including having clear career paths and having mentorship opportunities to encourage female employees to step into leadership roles. “Such efforts to increase female representation at the leadership level will go a long way in changing the perception of what makes a good leader and empowering women to take on leadership roles,” concludes Tay.