Recruitment firm Hays Asia in its report on diversity and inclusion found that 63% of Malaysian respondents had at some point felt excluded from participating at their workplace due to discrimination, with 51% saying they had experienced it in the past year.

The study, which was conducted among over 2,000 working professionals across Asia between April and May last year, said 28% of Malaysian respondents believed they were excluded from participation at work or faced a lack of respect due to their ethnicity.

The study said the figure is well above the Asia average of 17%.

Meanwhile, 51% said discrimination had lowered their chances of getting hired for a job, with one-third of them saying it had happened to them in the past year.

A quarter of respondents said they were discriminated racially, 10% higher than the average number of people to say so across Asia.

“In the case of career opportunities, 31% felt there was an inequality due to ethnicity, a figure that has risen from 13% in 2017 and 19% in 2018; making it the highest in Asia alongside Japan,” the report said.

Discrimination is also cited as a factor in salary and rewards by 29% of Malaysian employees surveyed.

This is an increase over the past two years by 19% and 23%, respectively.

The report noted that gender equality has improved in Malaysia in terms of wages and career advancement opportunities, but said gender diversity remained a major concern.

It said the number of women in managerial positions dropped to 40% from 46% last year.

“Although this is the second-highest level across Asia, it is still a slide that should ring alarm bells.

“This is especially since 60% believed gender diversity and inclusion could have the most positive impact on organisation leadership, as compared to the Asian average of 44%.”