No Longer A Boy’s Club: Equal Opportunities in the Logistics Workplace by Ninja Van Malaysia

It is no surprise that women today have been contributing greatly to the workforce. In Malaysia, 55.6% of the female population contributes to the labour force, amounting to 6.38 million people. According to the United Nations, gender equality, besides being a fundamental human right, is essential to achieve peaceful societies, with full human potential and sustainable development. Additionally, it has been shown that empowering women can spur productivity and economic growth.

A study on gender diversity in the workplace has shown that companies in the top quartile for gender diversity were 15% more likely to generate above-average profitability. This shows that the logistics industry as a whole could certainly do well with a more diverse workforce. For the longest time, there was this perception that women are entirely absent in the logistics industry. In 2017, only 2% females are present in the Logistics and Supply Chain industry globally.

Atika Sulaiman, Ninja Van Malaysia's Pick-Up-Drop-Off (PUDO) Operations Associate, can attest to this. “There is a general misconception that warehouse operations are limited to heavy manual labour. However, when you actually work in the warehouse, you will find that there are a whole suite of other tasks such as inventory management, parcel pick-up planning and even parcel sorting in the entire ecosystem,” Atika said.

Currently, Atika’s role involves coordinating pick-up and delivery orders with Ninja Van Malaysia drivers who are mostly male drivers. At first, it can be a challenge for women who are not accustomed to working in a male majority industry, where communication approaches might be different. But for Atika, practising direct communication among male colleagues is the best way to go in this line of work.

Being the only female member in her team, Atika believes that once you become comfortable with working in a fast-paced environment and have no qualms working in a diverse workforce, there is generally no issue for women to work in the logistics industry.

“We have now entered into the busiest month of the year for Ninja Van Malaysia and I am happy to have such supportive team members. I am honoured to be given the opportunity to manage a large number of drivers for this year-end peak period - over 100 pick-up drivers for the whole Klang Valley. While it can be a very challenging period, we band together as one team and make it work.”

Ninja Van Malaysia is dedicated to stay true to its policy and beliefs on non-discriminatory workplace culture by hiring based on talent and work ethics. As of November 2022, over 28% of Ninja Van Malaysia’s workforce are female across the management and operations teams, marking a significant increase by 13% from a year ago.

Atika Sulaiman, Pick-Up-Drop-Off (PUDO) Operations Associate

Atika also shared that there are always opportunities for employees at Ninja Van Malaysia to learn and explore different career paths. With a wide range of departments within the company, employees are encouraged to keep learning from one another and upskill themselves through various trainings organised, such as Business Continuity training, Team Building, Business Writing programmes, and Sales Masterclass sessions.

The logistics industry is constantly evolving and this goes with its workforce labor. Ninja Van Malaysia continues to make these changes with its employment, ensuring equal opportunities for women to enter and explore a career there. “For women out there, it is important for you to experience the work yourself and be well informed of the industry. There is no dividing line to our capabilities as women in the working world,” Atika shared.